CHAPTER VII
SICKNESS AND MORTALITY AMONGST AUSTRALIANS—THE DANGERS OF CAMP LIFE—STEPS TAKEN TO PREVENT EPIDEMICS—NATURE OF DISEASES CONTRACTED AND DEATHS RESULTING—DEFECTIVE EXAMINATION OF RECRUITS—OPHTHALMIC AND AURAL WORK—THE FLY PEST—LOW MORTALITY—THE EGYPTIAN CLIMATE AGAIN—SURGICAL WORK AND SEPSIS—CHOLERA—INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
CHAPTER VII
In civil practice we had long been aware of the fundamental failing of the medical profession. Its members operate in a community as individuals. They seek to cure disease in general; they are conscientious to a degree in the discharge of this duty, and they give valuable personal advice respecting hygiene. But of the prophylaxis of disease they have little trained knowledge, and they are not seriously interested. The prophylaxis of disease really implies organised and co-operative effort, and can only be effectively undertaken by those public-health officials who are charged with it as a definite function. In Australia at all events the inducements to enter the public-health service as a profession are not very great. The influence of the department is not very far-reaching, and the prophylaxis of disease is still in its infancy. One can foresee the time when the number of practitioners per 100,000 of the population will be fewer than at present, and the number of public-health officials will be greater. The transition from the one occupation to the other will only take place when a much higher standard of general intelligence prevails in the community.
What applies to civil life applies to a lesser extent to an army, because the headquarters staff of an army are as a rule excellently informed respecting the risk run by neglect of sanitation. They understand thoroughly that disease may do more harm than battles, and that outbreaks permitted to get out of hand are with difficulty controlled. In the Australian Army, by reason of its necessarily scratch nature, there was practically no instruction in prophylaxis. It was certainly not acutely understood, and the disastrous events which attended the formation of camps in Victoria and elsewhere show that the controlling authorities were either not fully informed of the risks, or if informed, did not understand the best plan of action. What applied in Australia was true to a lesser extent in Egypt, because Surgeon-General Williams and many of the R.A.M.C. officers who controlled medical operations in Egypt, and distinguished members of the Indian Medical Service who were associated with them, had been through a number of campaigns in South Africa and elsewhere, and were aware both of the risks and the difficulties. Consequently some effort was made to avoid, or to minimise the effects of, some of the disastrous outbreaks.
In March and April, before the arrival of wounded, the number of cases in hospital was a source of common comment amongst the medical officers, who could not understand why healthy men under service conditions, camped on the edge of a dry desert, should be suffering from serious disease to such an extent. The diseases were for the most part measles, with its complications, bronchitis, broncho-pneumonia, and a certain amount of lobar pneumonia, infectious pleuro-pneumonia, and tonsillitis. There were a few cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis. The impression made on a physician who had all the cases coming from the Heliopolis camps under his control was that these diseases were inordinately prevalent; but the following figures, obtained from headquarters and forwarded to the Government, show that while disease was more extensive than it should be, it was not excessive. Including venereal disease, the cases certainly did not exceed 6 to 8 per cent. of the force.
