Online Encyclopedia

Barbados, in 1647, where it was recognized as a " nova pestis " that was unaccountable in its origin, except that Ligon, the historian of the See also:

COLONY (Lat. colonia, from colonus, a cultivator)

colony, who was then on the spot, connected it with the arrival of See also:

SHIPS

ships. It was the same new pestilence that Dutertre, See also:

writing in 1667, described as having occurred in the See also:

French colony of See also:

GUADELOUPE

Guadeloupe in 1635 and 1640; it recurred at Guadeloupe in 1648, and See also:

broke out in a peculiarly disastrous See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form at St Kitts the same See also:

YEAR

year, and again in 1652; in 1655 it was at See also:

PORT

Port Royal, See also:

JAMAICA

Jamaica; and from those years onwards it became See also:

FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar at many harbours in the West Indies and See also:

SPANISH

Spanish See also:

Main. It appeared at the Brazilian ports in 1849. In 1853 it appeared in See also:

Peru and in 1820 on the W. coast of Africa. In See also:

GEORGETOWN

Georgetown (See also:

BRITISH

British See also:

GUIANA (Guyana, Guayana')

Guiana) 6g% of the See also:

garrison died in 184o. During the See also:

GREAT

great See also:

period of yellow fever (1793-1805), and for some years afterwards, the disease found its way See also:

time after time to various ports of See also:

Spain. See also:

Cadiz suffered five epidemics in the 18th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, See also:

MALAGA

Malaga one and See also:

LISBON (Lisboa)

Lisbon one; but from 1800 down to 1821 the disease assumed much more alarming proportions, Cadiz being still its See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief seat, while See also:

Seville, Malaga, See also:

CARTAGENA, or CARTHAGENA

Cartagena, See also:

BARCELONA

Barcelona, See also:

Palma, See also:

GIBRALTAR

Gibraltar and other See also:

SHIPPING

shipping places suffered severely, as well as some of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country districts nearest to the ports. In the severe epidemic at Barcelona in the summer of 1821, 5000 persons died. At Lisbon in 1857 upwards of 6000 died in a few See also:

WEEKS, EDWIN LORD (1849-1903)

weeks. In New See also:

Orleans 7970 See also:

PEOPLE

people died in 1853, 3093 in 1867, and 4056 in 1878.

In Rio 416o died in 1850, 1943 in 1852, and 1397 in 1886. Certain distinct conditions have seemed to be necessary for an outbreak. Foremost we may See also:

NOTICE

notice a high atmospheric temperature, one of 750 F. or over. As the thermometer sinks, the disease ceases to spread. Moisture favours the spread of yellow fever, and epidemics in the tropics have usually occurred about the See also:

RAINY, ROBERT (1826-1906)

rainy See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season. Seaport towps are most affected. In many instances the elevated See also:

AIRY, SIR GEORGE BIDDELL (1801-1892)

airy and hygienic quarters of a town may See also:

ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape, while the See also:

SHORE

shore districts are decimated. Usually the disease does not spread to villages or sparsely popu lated districts. Certain houses become hotbeds of the disease, See also:

case after case occurring in them; and it is usually in houses that the disease is contracted. A See also:

house may be said to be infected when it contains infected mosquitoes, whether there be a yellow-fever patient there or not. Ships become infected in the same way, the old wooden trading ships affording an ideal hiding-See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place to the Stegomyia in a way that the See also:

MODERN

modern and airy steamship does not. The See also:

INCUBATION

incubation period of yellow fever is generally four or five days, but it may be as See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short as twenty-four See also:

HOURS, CANONICAL

hours.

There are usually three marked stages: (1) the febrile period, (2) the period of remission or See also:

LULL (or LvLLY), RAIMON, or RAYMOND (c. 1235-1315)

lull, (3) in severe cases, the period of reaction. The illness usually starts with languor, chilliness, headache, and See also:

MUSCULAR

muscular pains, which might be the precursors of any febrile attack. These are followed by a See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar look of the eyes and See also:

FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face, which is characteristic: the face is flushed, and the eyes suffused at first and then congested or ferrety, the nostrils and lips red, and the See also:

TONGUE (O. Eng. lunge)

tongue See also:

SCARLET

scarlet-these being the most obvious signs of universal congestion of the skin, mucous membranes and See also:

ORGANS

organs. Meanwhile the temperature has risen to fever See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat, and may reach a very high figure (maximum of 110° Fahr., it is said) ; the See also:

PULSE

pulse is See also:

QUICK

quick, strong and full, but may not keep up in these characters with the high temperature throughout. There are all the usual accompaniments of high fever, including hot skin, failure of appetite, thirst, See also:

NAUSEA (from Gr. vain, a ship)

nausea, restlessness and See also:

DELIRIUM (a Latin medical term for madness, from delirare, to be mad, literally to wander from the lira, or furrow)

delirium (which may or may not be violent); albumen will nearly always be found in the urine. The fever is continued; but the febrile excitement comes to an end after two or three days. In a certain class of See also:

AMBULATORY (Med. Lat. ainbulatorium, a place for walking, from ambulare, to walk)

ambulatory or masked cases the febrile reaction may never come out, and the See also:

SHOCK, or COLLAPSE

shock of the infection after a brief See also:

INTERVAL

interval may See also:

lead unexpectedly and directly to prostration and See also:

DEATH

death. The cessation of the See also:

PAROXYSM (Med. Lat. paroxysntus, from the Gr. wapotbvety, to make sharp, odes)

paroxysm makes the See also:

STADIUM

stadium, or lull, characteristic of yellow fever. The hitherto militant or violent symptoms cease, and prostration or collapse ensues. The See also:

INTERNAL

internal heat falls below the normal; the See also:

ACTION

action of the See also:

heart (pulse) becomes slow and feeble, the skin See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold and of a See also:

lemon-yellow tint, the See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act of vomiting effortless, like that of an See also:

INFANT (in early forms enfaunt, enfant, through the Fr. enfant, from Lat. infans, in, not, and fans, the present participle of fari, to speak)

infant, the first vomit being clear fluid, but afterwards See also:

black from an admixture of See also:

BLOOD

blood. It is at this period that the prospect of recovery or of a fatal issue declares itself. The prostration following the paroxysm of fever may be no more than the weakness of commencing recovery, with copious flow of urine, which even then is very dark-coloured from the presence of blood.

The prostration will be all the more profound according to the height reached by the temperature during the acute paroxysm. Much blood in the vomit and in the stools, together with all other haemorrhagic signs, is of evil See also:

OMEN (a Latin word, either connected with os, mouth, or more probably with auris (Gr. ois, ear; apparently, meaning " a thing heard " or " spoken ")

omen. Death may also be ushered in by suppression of urine, See also:

COMA (Gr. K(.7)

coma and See also:

CONVULSIONS

convulsions, or by fainting from failure of the heart. In severe types of the disease an apoplectic, an algid and a choleraic form have been described. The case mortality averages from 12 to 8o%. In Rio in 1898 it reached the appalling height of 94'5%. In cities where it is endemic the case mortality is usually See also:

LOWER

lower. In 269 cases observed by See also:

STERNBERG

Sternberg, the mean mortality was 27.7 %. In 158 cases of yellow fever in See also:

VERA, AUGUSTO (1813-1885)

Vera Cruz in 1905 there were 91 deaths. The death-See also:

RATE

rate, however, tends to vary in different epidemics. In the epidemic occurring in Zacapa, Mexico, in 1905 in a See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population of 600o there were 700 cases, and the mortality among the infected was 40%. Treatment.—The patient should be removed from the See also:

FOCUS (Latin for " hearth " or " fireplace ")

focus of infection and nursed in a well-ventilated See also:

ROOM

room, screened from mosquitoes.

The further treatment is symtomatic. A purgative, followed by hot See also:

BATHS

baths, is useful in the See also:

early stages to relieve congestion, high temperature may be controlled by sponging; vomiting, by See also:

ICE (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Eis)

ice; or, if haemorrhagic, by See also:

ERGOT, or SPURRED RYE

ergot, perchloride of See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron or other styptics; and See also:

PILOCARPINE

pilocarpine may be given if the urine be scanty. Sternberg has introduced a See also:

SYSTEM

system of treatment by alkalis to counteract the hyperacidity of the intestinal contents and increase the flow of urine. Of 301 whites treated by this method only 7.3 % died, and of 72 blacks all recovered. See also:

CAUSATION

Causation.--The See also:

PATHOLOGY (from Gr. raBos, suffering)

pathology of the disease is discussed in the See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article PARASITIC DISEASES. In 1881 Dr See also:

Charles See also:

FINLAY, GEORGE (1799-1875)

Finlay, of See also:

HAVANA (the name is of aboriginal origin; Span. Habana or, more fully, San Cristobal de la Habana)

Havana, propounded the theory that mosquitoes were the See also:

CARRIERS

carriers of the infection. Numerous theories had previously been brought forward, notably that of the Bacillus icteroides, described by Sanarelli; but it is now certain that this organism is not the cause. Other authorities held that the disease was spread by contagion, by miasmata, or some other of the vague agencies which have always been put forward in the See also:

ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of exact knowledge. Finlay's mosquito theory remained in See also:

ABEYANCE (O. Fr. abeance, " gaping")

abeyance until See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention was again See also:

DRAWN

drawn to it by the demonstration in See also:

RECENT

recent years of the part played by these See also:

INSECTS

insects in the causation of other tropical diseases. The mosquito selected by Finlay was the Stegomyia fasciata, a black See also:

INSECT

insect with silvery markings on the See also:

THORAX (Gr. BWpaE, breastplate, also the part of the body covered by it)

thorax, which is exceedingly See also:

COMMON

common in the endemic area. It frequents towns, and breeds in any stagnant See also:

WATER

water about houses. Specimens were caught, fed upon yellow-fever patients, kept for a fortnight, and then allowed to bite susceptible persons established in a See also:

SPECIAL

special See also:

CAMP (from Lat. campus, field)

camp with other susceptible persons as a See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control.

Those bitten See also:

DEVELOPED

developed the fever, theothers did not. An See also:

AMERICAN

American See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission was appointed in 1900, consisting of See also:

Walter See also:

Reed, See also:

James See also:

Carroll, A. Agramonte and Lazear, and its conclusions were: that the Stegomyia fasciata is the See also:

AGENT (from Lat. agere, to act)

agent of infection, that the See also:

VIRUS, CHRISTOBAL DE (1550?-1615?)

virus of yellow fever is See also:

PRESENT

present in the blood during the first three days of the fever, and is generally absent on the See also:

FOURTH

fourth; that the germ is so small that it can pass through a Chamberland See also:

PORCELAIN

porcelain See also:

FILTER (a word common in various forms to most European languages, adapted from the medieval Lat. fi-ltrum, felt, a material used as a filtering agent)

filter; that the bite of all infected Stegomyia does not produce yellow fever (about 35% of the experiments proving negative); that mosquitoes fed on yellow-fever blood were not capable of giving rise to infection until after a See also:

LAPSE (Lat. lapses, a slip or departure)

lapse of twelve or fourteen days, but the insects retained their infective See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power for at least fifty-seven days. It can therefore be concluded that the virus of yellow fever is a See also:

PARASITE (From Gr. irapa, beside, Tiros food)

parasite, requiring as in See also:

MALARIA

malaria an alternate passage through a vertebrate and an insect See also:

HOST

host, the See also:

ANALOGY (Gr. avaXo-yLa, proportion)

analogy to malaria being very See also:

COMPLETE

complete. E. Marchoux and P. L. Simond, of the French Yellow Fever Commission to Rio de Janeiro, 1906, have observed an interesting fact in connexion with the S. fasciata. In See also:

order to See also:

lay her eggs she must first have a feed of blood, three days after which she See also:

LAYS

lays them. Before she lays her eggs she strikes both See also:

day and See also:

NIGHT

night, after that period at night only. Persons bitten in the day-time, therefore, do not develop yellow fever, while those bitten at night do. This may explain the impunity with which Europeans may visit an infected See also:

DISTRICT

district in the day-time provided that they are careful not to See also:

SLEEP (0. Eng. slcepan; Ger. schlafen; cf. Lat. labi, to glide, and " slip ")

sleep there at night.

It was stated by Marchoux and Simond that an infected mosquito transmits the parasite to her eggs, the progeny proving infective. Prophylaxis.—Following on the publication of these experi: ments there was instituted a vigorous See also:

CAMPAIGN

campaign against See also:

MOSS

moss quitoes in Havana in 19or, based on the methods applied to the suppression of malaria, and carried out under the direction of See also:

Major W. C. Gorgas of the See also:

UNITED

United States See also:

army, chief sanitary officer of Havana. The See also:

WORK

work was begun on the 27th of See also:

FEBRUARY

February 1901. An order was issued that all receptacles containing water were to be kept mosquito-See also:

PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof; sanitary inspectors were told off for each district to maintain a See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant house-to-house inspection, and to treat all puddles, &c., with oil; receptacles found to contain larvae were destroyed and their owners fined; breeding-grounds near the town were treated by draining and oil; hospitals and houses containing yellow-fever patients were screened; infected and adjacent buildings were fumigated with See also:

PYRETHRUM

pyrethrum See also:

POWDER (through O. Fr. puldre, modern poudre, from Lat. pulvis, pulveris, dust)

powder. The results exceeded all expectation, and after See also:

JANUARY

January 1902 the disease entirely ceased to originate in Havana. Cases occasionally now come into Havana from Mexican ports, but are treated under screens with impunity in See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city hospitals and never at any time infect the city. Thus in 1907 there was one death from yellow fever, and the See also:

general death-rate of Havana from all diseases was 17 per thousand. In the Bulletin of Public See also:

HEALTH

Health and Charities of See also:

CUBA (the aboriginal name)

Cuba it is stated there only occurred between 1905–9 a See also:

TOTAL

total of 345 cases of yellow fever in all Cuba, where formerly they numbered many thousands, and in See also:

APRIL

April igio the See also:

REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

republic was declared to be entirely See also:

FREE

free from the disease. Among other modern outbreaks in which sanitary See also:

MEASURES

measures have triumphed in the suppression of yellow fever were the outbreak in New Orleans in 1905, in which a medical See also:

STAFF (O. Eng. staef, cf. Du. staf, Ger. Stab, &c.; Icel. stafr meant also a written letter, and O. Eng. stafas, the letters of the alphabet; " stave," one of the thin pieces of wood of which a cask is made, is a doublet)

staff of 5o with sub-ordinates to the number of 1203 started immediately on the outbreak to clean up the city; the outbreak in See also:

BELIZE, or BALIZE

Belize, British See also:

HONDURAS

Honduras, in 1905; the See also:

ANTI, or CAMPA

anti-yellow-fever campaign undertaken in the British W. Indies in 1906-9.

As soon as the Isthmian See also:

Canal commissioners took over the See also:

ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration of the See also:

PANAMA

Panama Canal See also:

ZONE (Gr. 'WV77, a girdle, from 'wvvLvay to gird)

Zone they undertook a vigorous campaign against the mosquito, as the result of which yellow fever was successfully banished. See also:

COLONEL (derived either from Lat. column, Fr. colonne, column, or Lat. corona, a crown)

Colonel Gorgas in his 1908 See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report wrote: " It is now three years since a case of yellow fever has developed in the See also:

ISTHMUS (Gr.io0pbs, neck)

Isthmus, the last being in See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 1905." Rio de Janeiro, which had lost 28,078 inhabitants in 13 years by yellow fever, and Santo, have also waged See also:

war against the disease; as a result of the anti-Stegomyia policy the deaths from yellow fever in Rio See also:

fell to 42 in 1906, 39 in 1907, 4 in 1908, and 0 in 1909. See See also:

Sir P. See also:

MANSON, GEORGE (1850-1876)

Manson, Tropical Diseases (1907) ; article" Yellow Fever " in Allbutt and Rolleston's System of See also:

MEDICINE

Medicine; Sir R. See also:

BOYCE, WILLIAM (1710-1779)

Boyce, Report on Yellow Fever in Honduras (1906), and Health and Administration in the West Indies (1910) ; Bulletins of the U.S. Yellow Fever See also:

INSTITUTE (from Lat. instituere, to establish or set up)

Institute; Annales de l'lnstitut See also:

PASTEUR, LOUIS (1822-1895)

Pasteur (January 1906).

End of Article: YELLOW FEVER

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
YEISK

[next]
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK