Scouting, Volume 1, Number 9, August 15, 1913 Page: 6
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SCOUTING.
TYPHOID VACCINATION
URGED FOR ALL SCOUTS.
Action of the New Serum Explained by an Expert.
THE COLLEGE MAN
AND SCOUTING.
BY DAN. L. BORDEN, M. D.,
George Washington University.
VACCINATION for the prevention
of typhoid fever has proved of
such value during the past few
years that it seems imperative that the
benefits of its application should be ex-
tended to the Boy Scouts of America.
The Boy Scouts represent a large per-
centage of our young boys throughout
the United States, who under leadership
can be reached and made to understand
the practical value as well as the theory
of vaccination against typhoid.
Typhoid fever is the most common
of our diseases which is transmitted by
water. It may be readily understood
that the typhoid organism, whose nat-
ural home is in the water, may be car-
ried by anything that may come in con-
tact with contaminated water. Thus a
milk pail, having been washed with
water containing the typhoid bacillus,
spreads the infection to the milk. The
fly in turn comes along, lights upon the
milk and carries the infected milk to
some article of food which is about to
be eaten. Anyone partaking of either
the food, milk or water is apt to con-
tract the disease unless protected by the
method which is about to be described.
The typhoid bacillus, having found its
way into the body through contaminated
food or water, begins to grow and mul-
tiply in numbers, giving out its poisons
or toxins which are taken up by the
blood and absorbed into the system. As
a result of this, we fall a victim to this
much dreaded disease and are confined
to bed for weeks with a good deal of a
question as to our ultimate recovery.
It has been said that before troops re-
ceived the vaccine typhoid fever was one
of the greatest scourges of armies, kill-
ing more than powder and shot. Statis-
tics bear this out. Thus it may be under-
stood how important, it becomes to pre-
vent the possible occurrence of even a
single case of typhoid fever in the Boy
Scouts, especially during the summer
season, at which time camps, hikes, etc.,
are indulged in as a part of the Scout's
training. It is during these times that
the chance of infection through con-
taminated water becomes very great. Of
course, proper sanitation to a large ex-
tent helps control the spread of typhoid
fever, but it does not go as far nor is it
as certain as vaccination.
In order to understand the principles
upon which the vaccine depends, it be-
comes necessary to enter into the physio-
logical properties and action of the blood
and body cells. It is a well known fact
lliat the blood and body cells react to
disease, and when they are attacked they
increase in number and produce a sub-
stance which tends to kill or neutralize
the poisons excreted by the offending
organism. Thus, if the typhoid bacillus
enters our body, the blood and body
cells increase in number and manufac-
ture certain antibodies, or substances
which act against the poisonous organ-
ism and its toxins. If the efforts of the
body are overpowered, the organisms
increase in number and continue to
throw out an increasing amount of poi-
son until the system is overpowered, and
we die.
With these facts in mind, the action
of the typhoid vaccine may be under-
stood. The vaccine itself consists of
the dead bodies of the typhoid bacillus
dissolved in a little sterile water. The
bacilli are killed by boiling them in
water. Upon injecting the vaccine into
the arm, the toxin contained in the dead
bacilli is absorbed by the blood. At once
the body cells form antibodies to fight
the toxin. As the bacteria themselves
are dead, they do not grow and produce
more poison. Consequently there is
never any more toxin manufactured
than originally produced and injected
into the arm. Thus we have present
in the blood certain substances formed
to fight against the invasion of the
typhoid organism. As a result of this,
it may be understood that in the event
of an invasion into the body of a live
bacillus, the organism will be killed by
the already formed substances in the
blood before it has had time to do any
harm. The same principle holds true
in one who has had typhoid fever, and
this explains the oft-heard saying that
typhoid attacks but once.
The practical application of anti-
typhoid vaccination is naturally of great
interest and in the end it is by results
that we must base our plea for vaccina-
tion among the Boy Scouts of Amer-
ica. If we but glance over the records
of the United States Army for the past
few years, the evidence is convincing.
A striking example will be given.
During the Spanish-American War of
1898 there were quartered in the neigh-
borhood of Jacksonville 10,792 troops.
In four months' time 2,693 cases of
typhoid fever had developed, with 248
deaths. During March, 1911, at which
time vaccination for typhoid was com-
pulsory, there were 20,000 men called
to the Mexican border. With double
the number of men, occupying approxi-
mately the same territory for the same
length of time (four months) there oc-
curred only two cases of typhoid fever,
both of which recovered. Such results
speak for themselves. Major F. F. Rus-
sell, U. S. Army, states that in over
400,000 recorded cases of vaccination in
the Army not a single case has devel-
oped any bad effects following the in-
oculation. As a result of the evident
great reduction of typhoid fever the
Secretary of War, at the advice of the
Surgeon-General of the Army and ap-
proval of the President of the United
States, has made vaccination in the
Army compulsory.
Naturally the question is at once
raised—how long will this immunity
from typhoid fever last? This is as yet
an unsettled question, but it may be
stated within reasonable grounds of
safety that a limit of three years should
be drawn.
The procedure in itself is simple and
safe, consuming only a small amount of
time. The vaccine is injected into the
arm as in any ordinary hypodermic in-
jection and may be done by any phy-
sician. Little or no inconvenience re-
sults, but there may be a little soreness
of the arm at the point of inoculation,
together with a slight headache which
may be noticeable for the first twenty-
four hours. On the other hand, the
By Walter S. Crowell, Scout Master, Phila
delphia.
Because of the unusual training which
they have had, college men are particu-
larly fitted to take up Scout work. Not
only do they probably get more from
the work than many others, but they
also are more adaptable to boy nature
and can better inculcate the principles
of Scouting. The recollection of the
associations of the dormitories and class
rooms makes them much more sympa-
thetic with boys than men who spent the
corresponding period of their lives in
business.
Their literary and scientific learning
furnishes a large supply of material for
camp fire stories. They are ready with
explanations of why a steel boat floats
and how meat is preserved by wood
smoke, and the thousands of questions
which constantly occur to the active
mind of a boy of fourteen.
The advantage to the boys is, of
course, apparent, but the college man
who becomes a Scout Master will find
that it is not entirely one-sided. The
work is more pleasant to him because
it brings back experiences of college
days. The Scout law will help him in
his own life. The association with the
boys will keep the pleasanter and per-
haps the higher side of his education
from becoming mouldy and forgotten.
The hikes will take him out in the
open, and prevent that staleness which
is so apt to come to the business man.
He is furnished with an incentive to
keep "physically strong, mentally awake
and morally straight," which cannot help
increasing his industrial efficiency.
The Boy Scouts is no place for a
weakling or a bookworm. The men
who made good at college are the men
who will make good as Scout Masters.
The same qualities which made a man
a leader of his class will make him a
leader of boys.
individual may never know that the vac-
cine has been administered and ordi-
narily there is no reaction in young boys.
It has been the purpose of the writer
to present these facts in such a way as
to stimulate a general movement in the
Boy Scouts toward a systematic vaccina-
tion, as is now done in the United States
Army. In order to accomplish this it
will become necessary for the Scout
Masters to take the matter in hand,
explain to the boys and their parents
the importance and advantages of pro-
tection against typhoid fever, and to
emphasize the safety of its administra-
tion.
To summarize, the following points
might be emphasized :
First: Typhoid fever is prevalent every-
where in the United States, causing annu-
ally a mortality of nearly a half million people.
Second: The Boy Scouts during their
marches and out-door exercises are exposed
to the disease. This may include their ordi-
nary conditions at home and school.
Third: It has been absolutely determined
that vaccination practically does away with the
danger of infection and the unquestionable re-
duction of typhoid fever which has been
proven by actual practical experience is con-
vincing.
Fourth: Under ordinary circumstances this
vaccination is absolutely safe.
Fifth: Its simplicity makes it possible for
every Boy Scout to take advantage of the an-
tityphoid vaccination.
Tn closing, let me repeat the motto
which seems most fitting, "BE PRE-
PARED."
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 1, Number 9, August 15, 1913, periodical, August 15, 1913; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282639/m1/6/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.