Details:

Corporate Authors:
United States. Office of Malaria Control in War Areas.
Description:
Malaria in the United States of America is a disease of apparent decreasing importance. Graph A illustrates this point. It shows that for all States which report deaths and cases of malaria, there has been a steady downward trend during the last 24 years, despite two cyclic increases one in the late 20’s and the other in the early 30’s. Table I shows a decrease in the country-wide mortality rate from 5.8 per 100,000 population in 1920 to 0.5 per 100,000 population in 1943. Table II likewise shows a decrease in the country-wide morbidity rate from 336.5 per 100,000 population in 1920 to 40.7 per 100,000 population in 1943. Thus 1943 became the year of lowest rates in the history of malaria in this country.

Although malaria appears to be of decreasing importance as a public health problem in this country there are two reasons why malaria control operations must still be carried on: 1) Malaria is traditionally an endemic disease in the Southeastern States which as a unit show mortality and morbidity rates of 2 to 3 times the rates for the country; and 2) The cyclic character exhibited by the epidemic curve of malaria suggests that in spite of the consistent downward trend of the last ten years the time may yet come when the disease will sharply increase in another cycle. Carriers returning from abroad after service with the armed forces may provide the impetus which will give rise to another upswing in the epidemic curve. For these reasons considerable emphasis is being given by the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas toward maintaining efforts directed at decreasing the hazard from malaria in the endemic areas of the Southeast.

In considering choice of areas for control operations it has been the policy of MCWA to concentrate on the most important counties as determined by death rates. It is generally considered that reporting of deaths due to malaria is more reliable than the reporting of eases, although glaring examples of the respective faults of either are not difficult to demonstrate.


Subjects:
[+]
Malaria/epidemiology Malaria/prevention & Control Mosquito Control
Document Type:
Report
Name as Subject:
United States. Office of Malaria Control in War Areas. ; United States. Office of Malaria Control in War Areas.
United States. Office of Malaria Control in War Areas. ; United States. Office of Malaria Control in War Areas. Less -
Place as Subject:
United States
Location:
North America
Collection(s):
David J. Sencer CDC Museum
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:f5304b8b385c0e1eb227c451ec70fd0ff5c1de140da1aaff941d8ab5753d2799
Download URL:
https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/41701/cdc_41701_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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