Journal of the American Medical Association · 1919 · 11 citations · 1 references
Veterinary MedicineInfectious DiseasesMicrobiologyInfectious Disease EpidemiologyMedical MicrobiologyParasitologyBacterial InfectionsPulmonary InfectionsRespiratory DiseaseRespiratory InfectionsRespiratory Infectious DiseasesRespiratory Tract InfectionsConstructionHistory Of Infectious DiseaseHookworm ZoonosesRespiratory Infection EpidemiologyRespiratory MicrobiologyUpper Respiratory Infections
Shortly after the epidemic of acute respiratory disease appeared at Camp Jackson in September, 1918, 1,653 Porto Rican laborers arrived in camp direct from Porto Rico to be employed in the construction work incident to the enlargement of the cantonment. A large proportion of these men were poorly developed individuals, most of whom suffered from chronic hookworm infection as well as from other intestinal parasites. They appeared undernourished and were obviously underclad, with their Palm Beach suits and Panama hats, for the almost freezing nights of South Carolina in November and December. Soon after the arrival of these Porto Rican laborers, respiratory infections developed among them, and 1,003 were admitted to the base hospital with the diagnosis of influenza. Of these, 220 exhibited signs of complicating pneumonia, and sixty-seven died, a mortality of 30.4 per cent. During the height of the epidemic, it became impossible to take cultures of the
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