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64

No. 40.

JAMAICA.

EXTRACT FROM SIX-MONTHLY REPORT ON THE WORK CARRIED OUT IN THE GOVERNMENT BACTERIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, SEPTEMBER, 1915–MARCH, 1916.

(Extract.)

4.

(Received in Colonial Office, 22nd May, 1916.)

Pathological Laboratory, Public Hospital,

Kingston, Jamaica, 4th April, 1916.

*

Examination of Faces for Helminthiasis.-4,481 stools altogether were examined for ova, a much larger number than that of the previous six months, which was only 1,957. 1,063 of these examinations were in connexion with the first batta- lion of the Jamaica contingent, and the detailed results are given out in a special table* appended to this report.

It will be seen therein that almost seventy per cent. of the men were found to be infected with hookworm, a number which corresponds closely with the average percentage for the whole island; this is what one would expect, as the men were recruited from almost every parish.

The results of the treatment which they were made to undergo are also set forth in the same tabla, permission to make use of this knowledge having been granted by Colonel Rhodes, the Principal Medical Officer at camp. The men were given 90 grains of thymol in one day, in three doses of 30 grains each, at an hour's interval, the proper precautions as regards diet, recumbent position, and subse- quent purgation being taken. A certain number of those whose stools still con- tained ankylostoma ova after the first treatment were subjected to a second course, and, if not free, again to a third case. Unfortunately the battalion had to leave before the men had all got rid of their parasites.

One cannot help noting from the tables that the results obtained are far from being encouraging, though of course one would prefer to have a much larger number than seventy-two on which to base conclusions as to the effects of more than one course of treatment.

At the request of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police an investigation of the faces of the recruits on their joining the Police Force was also carried out. Eighty infected men were treated and their stools re-examined a week after. Of these fifty-six were now free from ova. a much higher percentage than that of the contingent men. The treatment in this case consisted in the administration of 180 grains of thymol, spread over three days, in doses of 60 grains each day. This method would certainly appear to have been more effective than that adopted at

camp.

Dr. Pack's cases at the St. Catherine District Prison also afforded an oppor- tunity of studying the effects of thymol, quassia, and oil of chenopodium, and establishing a comparison of the respective efficacies of these drugs. Three hundred and forty-eight patients who were known to harbour ankylostoma were given two doses of 30 grains of thymol each, at an interval of two hours, on an empty stomach, preceded and followed by Epsom salts. The results correspond fairly closely with those obtained in the case of the contingent recruits. One hundred and nineteen other patients were given six ounces of infusion of quassia (150 grains to one pint of water) under the same conditions as the above. Ninety-four, i.e., almost eighty per cent.. still contained hookworm ova a week after.

Twenty more were treated with oil of chenopodium, of which only a small quantity was available at the time, and the ova disanneared from the stools in four- teen cases, i.e., seventy per cent. The number of patients experimented with in this instance is not sufficiently large to allow of any definite opinion being formed, but the dotenev of Ol. chenopodii is further borne out by the twenty cases from the Kingston Penitentiary, who were given this drug with thymol (either before or after), and the number of negative stools was eighteen, i.e., ninety per cent. It was also noted that chenonađiol has the additional advantage of causing the other comman intestinal helminths that occur in combination with ankylostoma to be expelled at the same time.

* Not printed.

65

The conclusions that are to be drawn from these experiments are that :—

(1) Quassia is of very little, if of any, use against hookworm. (2) That thymol is not an ideal specific.

(3) That Ol. chenopodii appears to be a very powerful antihelminthic, though

further observations are still necessary to establish this point.

(4) That the best result is to be obtained by making use of both thymol and

chenopodiol at a suitable interval.

(5) That the problem of total eradication of ankylostomiasis will not be solved by drugs only, and that education of the native and coolie popu- lations as to the proper use of latrines and the adoption of other sani- tary measures, together with general medical supervision, is of the utmost importance, as it is not difficult to understand that between successive courses of treatment the victims of this complaint can find numerous opportunities of reinfecting themselves. In fact the returns show that, in spite of treatment, no appreciable abatement in the prevalence of the disease can as yet be made out.

While still on this subject I may add that the Director of Agriculture has recently obtained from the Government of the Republic of Colombia specimens of the Higueron (Ficus laurifolia), and that it is proposed to experiment with the latex of this plant as soon as it is available, especially as regards its effect on the Trichocephalus dispar, towards which it is stated to behave almost as a specific. The results will be recorded in due course.

NOTE BY THE SECRETARY TO THE ANKYLOSTOMIASIS Committee.

In addition to the reports printed in this volume, periodical reports were received from the officers appointed in connexion with the campaign of the Inter- national Health Commission in the following Colonies :—

Trinidad :—

Monthly reports, printed in the Colony. British Guiana :-

Annual and half-yearly reports, printed in the Colony. Grenada :-

Quarterly and annual reports. Local printing of annual report under

consideration.

In view of the necessity for strict economy in printing at the present time, re- printing of these reports in this volume was not undertaken.

28th September, 1916.

* Not printed.

+ Enclosure in No. 87.

H. R. C.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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