History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

20 History of Medical Practice in Illinoisand wet bottom lands adjacent to rivers as, par excellence, the malarialareas. The distribution was general, however, although frequently respectingthe more elevated regions. Ackerknecht analyzed fullythe effects ofmalaria upon the pioneers, settlements, location of cities and towns, roads,drainage, land cultivation, mosquitoes, and animal and plant life.Yellow Fever: This disease came to the Americas about the beginning ofthe 16th century, probably from Africa. Evidently the slave trade waslargely responsible. From the West Indies it invaded both continents. Fromtime to time it spearheaded from the Gulf of Mexico region to NorthAmerica along three main routes: the Atlantic seaboard, the MississippiRiver, and a western prong from Mexico to the north. Comparable tomalaria, a mosquito and a non-immune host are requisites for its migratorydistribution. The ecology of the Aedes mosquito determined these courses.Twice yellow fever invaded Illinois, first in 1878 and again in 1897. Bothyears were hot and dry and had late summers. The first invasion followedthe Mississippi River and reached Cairo, Illinois, by way of Hickman,Kentucky. It prevailed there during August, September and October, andwas checked only by the first frost. There were 80 cases and 62 deaths. OnSeptember 19 and 20, 1897, four cases again appeared in Cairo, and thediagnosis was confirmed by Dr. Guiteras of the Marine Hospital Service.The Illinois outbreak was of short duration, but it was serious that year inNew Orleans, Mobile and Atlanta.The Illini country, therefore, was just at the northern tip of the lowerMississippi Valley region that was invaded by yellow fever from the WestIndies so many times and with such dire results. All danger of invasion bythis disease was removed by its eradication from the West Indies soon afterthe close of the Spanish-American War.Trachoma has been a pestilence of no little importance in Illinois formore than a century. There are practically no Indians in the state now andthere is no evidence to indicate that the primitive Indians were afflicted.Since Negroes are relatively resistant to this disease, the infection is limitedto the white population.Long ago it was noted that the southern and southeastern counties hadthe highest incidence of trachoma. Ashburn u thought that it was broughtover to the Western Hemisphere from Spain and later from other Mediterraneancountries, especially Egypt. Often it was associated with other eyeinfections, making the diagnosis difficult and confused.Little is known about trachoma in Illinois during the pioneer period.Rawlings l and Zeuch 12 barely mentioned it, although ophthalmias were11Ashburn, P. M.: The Ranks of Death, 1947, Howard-McCann, New York.12Zeuch, Lucius H.: The History of Medical Practice in Illinois, Vol. I. The Book PressInc., Chicago, 1927.