Report on the prevention of malaria in Cyprus / by Sir Ronald Ross ; presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of His Majesty.

  • Ross, Ronald, Sir, 1857-1932.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report on the prevention of malaria in Cyprus / by Sir Ronald Ross ; presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of His Majesty. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    10. Relations between Malaria and Breeding Surface in Cyprus.—That such a relation exists has been known to the world since the time of Empedocles of Sicily, that is, since 500 n.c. The relation was worked out numerically by Major Eowler and myself in Mauritius in 1908 in the Clairfond marsh, where we showed definitely that the spleen-rate of the villagers diminishes decisively and rapidly the further the people live from the pools of water. Subsequently Major Robertson, I.M.S., made some excellent similar studies in India showing how the disease diminishes directly with the distance from the breeding area. My observations in Cyprus simply confirm the same law. Wherever the malaria rate is high, there we may expect a large local breeding surface. It will of course be understood that by breeding surface I do not mean any water or even any stagnant water. I mean water which breeds the local carriers. Here as elsewhere that water is generally mo're or less stagnant, and generally contains a certain amount of fine, green, flocculent water weed and other shelter for the larvae, and is not open to fish, or subject to quick desiccation or scouring out. A place may possess much water and even much stagnant water, without possessing much breeding surface. Eor instance, at Eythrea there is very much water, but, as I have said, not much breeding surface (Section 9 (1) ). Wells occur all over the Island and may or may not be asso- ciated with high spleen-rates. I think that the explanation is that they supply only a few anophelines as a rule, perhaps enough to cause a low spleen-rate of something up to 10 per cent. Where the spleen-rate rises above this, I have always found some additional breeding surface in the close neighbourhood. This is important, because the wells are often very troublesome to deal with. More exact information will be obtained upon this point in the course of future studies; but I think that the broad lines can be accepted as pretty certain. I should add here that malaria has now been studied so much that I have been able to construct a mathematical equation containing most of the factors im- plicated in the spread of it—this equation has been accepted by good mathematicians and enables us very definitely to allot its proper quantitive force to each separate factor (Prevention of Malaria, Second Edition). I may therefore now proceed, without further analysis, to proposals for prevention. III.—TITE PREVENTION OE MALARIA IN CYPRHS. 11. Methods which may be used.—These are: — (1) The use of mosquito nets, wire gauze to windows, culici- fuges, &c. This is chiefly applicable to public buildings, such as barracks, prisons, railway stations, hospitals, &c.; but it is very difficult to apply to the mass of the people, especially in poor villages, where the houses are often so constructed that it would be more expensive to apply wire gauze to them than to rebuild them entirely. Mosquito nets will seldom be employed by the poor, and culicifuges are never very satsfactory.