Page:LewisMeriam-TheProblemOfIndianAdministration.djvu/245

Other Diseases. In respect to other diseases the Indian situation presents comparatively few significant variations from that of the general population.

With regard to infectious and contagious diseases, until recently almost no effort has been made to compile statistics except for tuberculosis and trachoma. Cases of smallpox were found only occasionally; vaccination has been compulsory in schools since 1907, though it is probable that a fairly large number of adults and children still remain to be reached before maximum protection is assured. Measles was found frequently, 140 cases at one school at the time of the visit of the survey staff, and it is likely that measles accounts for part of the high infant mortality, though records are not available to substantiate the contention. Little scarlet fever was found, and only occasional cases of diphtheria, the latter invariably among mixed bloods. Scattered cases of whooping cough were reported, and there have been epidemics of chickenpox and mumps.

Considerable indifference in regard to diseases of childhood was observed, especially in the boarding schools. In some instances the old feeling appeared to exist that such diseases were to be expected, and the sooner all children had them the better. In diphtheria, on the other hand, Tulalip and Sherman have immunized all their pupils, and the Consolidated Chippewa Agency is now immunizing Indian children on the reservation and in public schools. The Indian Office has distributed circulars among field physicians to encourage immunization.

Sporadic outbreaks of epidemic cerebro-spinal meningitis have occurred in Montana, Washington, and Oregon for the past few years. During the spring of 1927 about thirty cases developed among the Blackfeet tribes in Montana. Immediate action on the part of the reservation physicians, the state health authorities and the district health officer prevented its spread.

Cases of malaria have been reported among the Indians in south-eastern Oklahoma, among the Cherokees of North Carolina, and in the Pueblo of San Juan, New Mexico. The occurrence of this disease in New Mexico seems quite out of the ordinary because of the marked difference in climate and altitude from the usual malarial regions. A trained worker is now making a study of this situation.