Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1259738
The Scourge of "Yellow Jack" by Aaron Severson Y ellow fever is a virulent mosquito-borne viral infection that plagued North America well into the 20th century. The disease's name refers to the symptoms accompanying severe cases, which can include bleeding, vomiting and organ failure as well as fever and jaundice. English speakers often called the disease "yellow jack," after the yellow quarantine flag flown during outbreaks. About 85 percent of yellow fever cases are rela- tively mild, resolving within about a week. Severe cases, however, are extremely deadly, with case- fatality rates of up to 60 percent even today. Even more frighteningly, severe cases typically begin as mild ones that suddenly worsen after the patient begins to feel better. Although yellow fever outbreaks usually coin- cide with mosquito sea- son, it wasn't until 1881 that Cuban physician Carlos Finlay, M.D., first hypothesized that the insects could transmit the disease. Maj. Walter Reed, M.D., a U.S. Army surgeon, confirmed that theory through human trials in 1900. However, the virus wasn't isolated until the late 1920s, and it took decades to develop an effective vaccine. Yellow fever remains a serious threat in many tropical areas of the Americas and Africa. WN were indiscriminately mingled together." In these ghastly conditions, Jones and Allen write, the vol- unteer nurses worked "for a week or 10 days, left to do the best they could without any suf- ficient rest, many of them hav- ing some of their dearest con- nections sick at the time, and suffering for want." It was risky work, despite the myth of Black immunity. "When the people of colour had the sickness and died, we were … told it was not with the prevailing sickness, until it became too notorious to be denied," the ministers recalled. "Thus were our services extort- ed at the peril of our lives." [their emphasis]. DESPITE THEIR indignation at Carey — who had actually fled the city during part of the epidemic, something he'd sharply criticized others for doing — Jones and Allen were rightly proud of what their com- munity had accomplished. "Truly our task was hard, yet through mercy, we were able to go on," they wrote. "We feel great satisfaction in believing that we have been useful to the sick and thus publicly thank Doctor Rush for enabling us to be so." You can read both pamphlets in their entirety and learn more about this extraordinary episode in Black history in the digital collection of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. WN ✖✚✖✚✖✚✖✚✖✚✖✚ Yellow quarantine flags were flown during outbreaks, inspirng the dis- ease's nickname, "yellow jack." June 15–July 27, 2020 Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com 15