The gold fever winners

In the 17th and 18th centuries, yellow fever was one of the terrible disasters in tropical countries. Every time the outbreak exploded, up to 3% of the population became infected and the mortality rate was up to 10%.

Before this calamity, there were many people who accepted the risk, even death with the determination: to find ways to spread the disease, thereby developing preventive measures. The epic poem about the mirror of sacrifice for yellow fever has been recognized by the world literature, recounted many times in theater and cinema art.

Black shadow of disease

It was in the early 18th century, consecutive yellow fever outbreaks occurred in the west coast of Africa, the countries of South America and the Caribbean . and then spread to the coastal cities of the country. America like Boston, New Orleans and then to the Mississippi River. At that time, no one knew what pathogen was and what pathway the disease spread. The shadow of the epidemic makes it even more awe-inspiring to humans.

At that time, there was a famous medical house in Havana (Cuba) - Dr. Carlos J. Finlay was very interested in learning about the terrible calamity that is raging in his country with the number of people dying up to thousands each. year. He noted that every time the mosquitoes disappeared, the outbreaks temporarily subsided. In August 1881, Finlay stated that mosquitoes were the yellow fever transmission agent and the scientific name of this mosquito is Aedes aegypti. But this assertion is not acknowledged because he has not proven it experimentally. As the years passed, Finlay and his theory gradually fell into oblivion.

In 1898, fierce war between Spain and the United States exploded. The US military won and landed in Cuba, the Spanish colony at that time. They were met with a disaster, the number of American soldiers suffering from yellow fever and death increased. The commander of the US military in Cuba, Major General Leonard Wood must ask the Washington government for help.

A yellow fever prevention committee was established soon after and was sent to Cuba for research. The research team consists of 4 members: James Carroll, a bacteriologist Jess W. Lazear, an autopsy surgeon Aristide Agramonte and a research leader are Major Walter Reed, a professor of microbiology at the University. Military.

Diagram of mosquitoes attacking people and spreading diseases.

Sacrificing for science and humanity

In June 1900, when the delegation arrived in Cuba, the yellow fever epidemic was reaching its peak. Corpse and dying people are everywhere. The city of Havana is clean, but the disease is still raging and threatening to destroy the American army here. Walter Reed once heard Dr. Finlay's hypothesis. He visited Finlay, Finlay showed him the samples of the mosquitoes and explained that the mosquitoes often breed in confined puddles in the city.

Walter Reed decided to use mosquitoes to cause yellow fever. At that time no one knew which animals could get yellow fever, so humans had to be test subjects. Risk-taking research team, experimenting on themselves.

On August 27, James Carroll allowed a mosquito that had previously burned four yellow fever patients to burn themselves. Four days later, he became infected, the clinical situation was very heavy, but fortunately he gradually recovered. Agramonte and Lazear continue to get themselves tested. Particularly Reed is not allowed to participate because he is responsible for monitoring the clinical manifestations of group members and must report the research progress. On September 13, 1990, when Lazear was visiting a yellow fever patient, a mosquito landed on his arm. He deliberately let this mosquito bite him, 5 days after Lazear became ill and died.

After that, the US military built an isolated camp named Lazear to serve the research work. Reed called on volunteer soldiers to be test subjects. The first two volunteers were Private John R. Kissinger and officer of the headquarters John Morgan. In the name of science, for the benefit of mankind, they are ready to cope with the dangers that await.

For a few weeks, Kissinger and Morgan lived separately in the Lazear barracks. There are no mosquitoes here. Outside the plague is still raging, more than 100 soldiers are sick and 85 have died. At the end of December, Kissinger and Morgan moved to live with the mosquitoes that once burned the sick. They both got sick and then recovered.

Many such tests are conducted and have similar results. Undoubtedly, mosquitoes are a yellow fever transmission agent.

After identifying the infectious agent, the US military immediately launched a campaign to destroy the locations where mosquitoes could reproduce: Building drainage systems for stagnant water areas, covering the surface with oil. puddles to destroy larvae. As a result, in 1901, in Havana, only 6 people died from yellow fever, while half a century ago lost 750 people per year on average. In 1904, similar measures were also taken to control yellow fever in Panama, contributing to the successful construction of the Panama Canal.

People writing epic episodes

After that, many scientists continued to fight yellow fever. The billionaire John D. Rockefeller and his son founded the Rockefeller Institute for scientific research. A unit of the institute is responsible for paying yellow fever. The story is followed by other tragedies.

Arian Stokes, a member of the Rockefeller Institute, set out for Africa to study yellow fever. He became ill and died. Before he left, he discovered something very precious: Some monkeys can get yellow fever. For the first time, humans have found a species to experiment with, not necessarily accepting risks like Carroll and Lazear. However, until then, the list of people who sacrificed to find a way to control yellow fever was quite long: from Sawyer to Hideyo Noguchi, Alexandre Young, Paul Lewis and Theodore Hayne, Those are soldiers, doctors, Nurses, technicians . who are actively infected, who happen to be infected in the laboratory. They all died while studying this deadly disease.

The mystery of yellow fever is gradually being discovered. In 1928, science identified the cause of yellow fever as a virus. Not only are Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmitted, but there are other mosquitoes. From the 30s of the 20th century, live attenuated live vaccines were put into use, significantly reducing deaths from viral diseases, including yellow fever. However, humanity must still be grateful to the heroes for their courage, sacrifice and perseverance to find the way of transmission and prevention measures in the early days of hardship!