PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
། ། ། ། ། ། wwimminutC.O. 885
23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
44
Reports on the Prevalence of Hookworm Disease-continued.
Parish and District or Institution.
If Best Indiana
Are resident
to any extent.
Is the disease increasing!
Number of Case seen in
1910-1911.
ST. JAMES--
Montego Bay Adelphi
No
Thinks not
No
19
HANOKER
Luces,
No
Not known
0
to exist.
WESTMORELAND—
Savanna-la-Mar
Yen
0
Little London
Yes
Thinks not
3
Grange Hill
Yes
Not known
0
to exist.
Lambs River
No
Thinks not
1?
ST. ELIZABETH-
Black River
Balaclava
22
No
Not known
No
to exist. Thinks not
3
Santa Cruz
28
No
Thinks not
1
Bemarks.
Dr. Johnston states that he has, since arriving at Adelphi, so far examined the stools of 11 coloured Jamaicans Buffering from anemia and found the ova in 9 cases, and that he ex- amined the faces of 10 Coolies living at Latium and found that every one contained ova.
Dr. Harvey states that he has not
seen a case for over a year.
Dr. Sinclair states that the cases were
East Indians.
Dr. Stafford found no ova.
These cases were seen by Dr. Calder in the Santa Cruz district, but came from the Siloah part of Balaclava district.
Dr. Calder states that cases find their way into the Santa Cruz Almshouse for other diseases, the ankylostoma being secondary. He is of opinion that if banana cultivation is intro- duced, with its attendant cultivation and muddy trenching, and if in addition East Indians are imported, it will increase,
GLARENDON---
Vere
Yes
Yes
17
Dr. Tillman states that the disease exists among both Creoles and Coolies in the district.
May Pen
No
Not known
0
AA
to exist.
Chapelton
No
Does not
1
know.
Crofts Hill...
MANCHESTER-
Yes
Does not
0
(Worthy
exist as far as
Park.)
is known.
Newport
No
Not known
0
to exist.
Mandeville
No
Not known
0
to exist.
Christiana...
No
Thinks pro-
Several
bably the
contrary.
ST. CATHERINE—
Old Harbour
No
Not known
to exist.
Linstead
Tos
Not known
0
to exist.
Spanish Town
Yes
Not known
0
***
to exist.
Spanish Town Hos-
pital.
Spanish
Prison.
Town
|
No cases
0
have been
recognised.
Dr. Halliday states that marked cases
of anemia do exist which may be due to hookworm disease.
Since my request was made Dr. Peck
states that he finds that about 50 per cent, of admissions to the prison harbour the disease. (Ed.)
45
Note on Ankylostomiasis (hook-worm disease) in Prisoners sent to the Penitentiary. With a view of ascertaining what percentage of new prisoners are infected with ankylostomiasis, all prisoners on admission-except habitual criminals and those from Kingston and Montego Bay-have recently been systematically treated with thymol, and their dejecta in every case examined for hock-worm and other nematodes. The investigation began in January and is being continued. Some particulars of the 71 cases examined up to the 31st March, 1911, are given below.
On arrival the prisoners are placed on a milk diet for two days prior to treat- ment; on the third day they are given two 30-grain doses of thymol, one at 9 a.m., the other at 11 a.m.; at 1 p.m. a large dose of Epsom salts is given; the stools are examined the same evening or on the following morning. Fifty-one, or over 70 per cent., were found to be infected with hookworm.
Of this number two were profoundly anæmic and presented all the pathogno- monic signs of the disease in its most advanced stage: 15 were moderately anæmic; a feature in many of these cases was the continued fever they suffered from; the rest appeared healthy, although very large numbers of hookworms were expelled from many of them.
"Most of the infected cases belonged to the bare-footed agricultural labouring class: they invariably stated that they had recently suffered from ground itch,' a disorder which seemed to be well known to all of them: it was also evident from the composition of the stools that the majority of them were addicted to dirt-eating (geophagism).
The following list shows that practically all of them came from moist districts. Considering its wide distribution, it would certainly appear that the disease must be very general through the Island, and cause a large amount of disability, ending fatally in many cases. Young children, especially, must fall easy victims. It is probably, either directly or indirectly, the most destructive disease among the agri- cultural labouring class in this Island, even more so than malaria.
Thymolising stations, such as have been established in the infected areas of Porto Rico, would probably prove highly beneficial here; infected individuals must be treated under supervision, the random distribution of thymol among such a class would be practically useless. The physical improvement shown in the prisoners who have been treated in the Penitentiary has been remarkable.
Localities from which the hookworm-infected prisoners came :-
Ulster Spring, Clark's Town (2).
Trelawny
St. James
Clarendon
St. Mary
Hanover
St. Catherine
St. Elizabeth
St. Ann
Westmoreland
Portland
Manchester
Springfield, Rock River, Good Hope, Cambridge, Mont-
pelier (2), Leyden, Chesterfield.
Frankfield (2), Mocho (3), Blackwood, Milk River, Rock
River, Chapelton, Cross, Farm.
Mahoe Hill, Annotto Bay (2), Albany, Belfield, Rich-
mond, Friendship.
Kendal, Dias, Fat Hog Quarters.
Above Rocks, Guys Hill (2), Williamsfield.
Mulgrave, Slipe, Balaclava.
Liberty, Priory, Alexandria, Davis Town.
Ashton, Cave, Little London.
Best Works (2), Oakley.
Christiana, Porus.
The negative cases, for the most part, came from seaside towns and reputedly
dry places; some had habitually worn boots.
Both the Old World and New World
Remark-
hookworm (Ankylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus) were found ably few other nematodes were found-Ascaris lumbricoides (5 cases); Trichuris trichiura (2 cases); and Oxyuris vermicularis (3 cases).
Historical. Remarkable accounts on the dirt-eating habit and its destructive course are given by several of the Jamaica physicians who wrote at the end of the 18th and beginning of the last century. Similar observations among the negroes in the Southern States are recorded about the same period.
Dr. John Hunter, 1788, paid some attention to the disease when he was in Jamaica, 1781-1783, and concluded that " it appeared to be more a disorder of the mind than of the body." This opinion appears to have been generally held by contemporary writers. Some idea of the mortality occasioned by this disorder is