Yellow Jack: How Yellow Fever Ravaged America andWalter Reed Discovered Its Deadly Secrets
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More About This Title Yellow Jack: How Yellow Fever Ravaged America andWalter Reed Discovered Its Deadly Secrets
English
The end of a scourge
"The prayer that has been mine for twenty years, that I might be permitted in some way or some time to do something to alleviate human suffering, has been answered!"
--Major Walter Reed, writing to his wife, New Year's Eve, 1900
As he wrote to his wife of his stunning success in the mission to identify the cause of yellow fever and find a way to eradicate the disease, Walter Reed had answered the prayers of millions. For more than 250 years, the yellow jack had ravaged the Americas, bringing death to millions and striking panic in entire populations. The very mention of its presence in a city or town produced instant chaos as thousands fled in terror, leaving the frail, the weak, and the ill to fend for themselves.
Yellow Jack tracks the history of this deadly scourge from its earliest appearance in the Caribbean 350 years ago, telling the compelling story of a few extraordinarily brave souls who struggled to understand and eradicate yellow fever. Risking everything for the cause of science and humanity, Reed and his teammates on the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Board invaded the heart of enemy territory in Cuba to pursue the disease--and made one of the twentieth century's greatest medical discoveries. This thrilling adventure tells the timeless tale of their courage, ingenuity, and triumph in the face of adversity.
"The prayer that has been mine for twenty years, that I might be permitted in some way or some time to do something to alleviate human suffering, has been answered!"
--Major Walter Reed, writing to his wife, New Year's Eve, 1900
As he wrote to his wife of his stunning success in the mission to identify the cause of yellow fever and find a way to eradicate the disease, Walter Reed had answered the prayers of millions. For more than 250 years, the yellow jack had ravaged the Americas, bringing death to millions and striking panic in entire populations. The very mention of its presence in a city or town produced instant chaos as thousands fled in terror, leaving the frail, the weak, and the ill to fend for themselves.
Yellow Jack tracks the history of this deadly scourge from its earliest appearance in the Caribbean 350 years ago, telling the compelling story of a few extraordinarily brave souls who struggled to understand and eradicate yellow fever. Risking everything for the cause of science and humanity, Reed and his teammates on the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Board invaded the heart of enemy territory in Cuba to pursue the disease--and made one of the twentieth century's greatest medical discoveries. This thrilling adventure tells the timeless tale of their courage, ingenuity, and triumph in the face of adversity.
English
JOHN R. PIERCE, M.D. (Col. MC, U.S. Army, Ret.), wrote the series of articles on which this book is based for Stripe, a publication for Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) personnel and included on dcmilitary.com, a Web site for military personnel in the Washington, D.C., area. Pierce recently retired after thirty years of active duty, a significant portion of that spent at WRAMC. With Pierce, JIM WRITER coedited a supplement to the journal Military Medicine on the 1900 Yellow Fever Board.
English
Preface vii
Introduction: The Forgotten Scourge 1
1 Yellow Fever Comes to America 7
2 The Capital Under Siege 23
3 Nothing but a Yellow Fever 34
4 Yellow Fever Moves South 47
5 The Nation Threatened 60
6 Yellow Fever’s Odd Couple 75
7 Walter Reed 87
8 Spanish Bullets and Yellow Fever 101
9 The Opportunity of a Lifetime 135
10 “A Soldier’s Chances” 148
11 Putting It All Together 165
12 Affirmation 173
13 Presentation 189
14 Recognition 205
15 Historic Application 215
16 Yellow Fever after Walter Reed 224
Epilogue: After Cuba 240
Afterword: Yellow Fever Today 245
Acknowledgments 249
Notes 250
Bibliography 259
Index 271
Illustrations begin on page 123
English
"A fascinating examination of how science works in the real world. This book may inspire future Walter Reeds to solve tomorrow's medical mysteries." (Journal of College Science Teaching)
