Local citizens breathed a sigh of relief recently when they learned that New Orleans' mosquitoes are not the same species as those responsible for the recent encephalitis outbreak in Houston. What they didn't realize is that our mosquitoes cause impetigo and that impetigo in turn can lead to serious kidney disease of childhood. Dr. Percy Rosenbaum. professor of pediatrics at Louisiana State University Medical School, said scientists aren't sure yet whether these mosquitoes are carriers of the streptococcus germs, which cause the kidney ailment, or whether trouble starts when the child scratches and thus infects the mosquito bites. STUDY CONDUCTED The pediatrician said he and fellow-scientists made a study of 1,103 cases of acute glomerulonephritis which were admitted to Charity Hospital between July, 1949 and July, 1963.
"The study," he explained, "showed that the peak years for this kidney ailment usually coincided with tremendous mosquito outbreaks in the city." The pediatrician said when a mosquito bites a youngster, the youngster will scratch the bite; the bite may then become infected and impetigo will result. Impetigo, commonly known as Indian Fire in this area, usually starts as a blister which then develops pus and a scab and usually spreads to other parts of the body. "If we treat the impetigo in its early states, by eradicating the 'strep' or 'staph' germ, we can usually prevent the glomerulonephritis from developing," the pediatrician explained. CONSIDERED MINOR Dr. Rosenbaum said some parents have a tendency to shrug off impetigo as a minor skin ailment. Other parents, he explained, resort to salves and skin scrubbings. "I have yet to see a child who received adequate penicllin treatment for impetigo develop this kidney ailment," added the pediatrician. "But I have seen many cases of glomerulonephritis resulting from impetigo treated only with salve or with soap scrubbings. Dr. Rosenbaum said the Charity Hospital study showed that in children glomerulonephritis is a much more common cause for admission than rheumatic fever. "When the sores resulting from impetigo are cultured," he added, "they usually show definite evidence of a 'strep' or 'staph' germ." Dr. Rosenbaum said often the child harbors these germs in his nose or on his skin; that when he scratches his nose then scratches the impetigo he transmits the "strep" or "staph" germ. ALLERGIC REACTION According to this theory, the pediatrician explained, the "strep" or "staph" germs do not invade the kidney proper And they are not found in the blood. Apparently what hap pens, he added, is that an allergic reaction is set up in the kidneys. Dr. Rosenbaum said another theory is that the mosquito might be a carrier of these germs; that when the mosquito bites a child it inoculates the child with one of these germs The pediatrician said methods of preventing this serious form of childhood nephritis should include getting rid of the offending mosquitoes and having the children treated with an antibiotic as soon as they get impetigo. "Most children, suffering from glomerulonephritis, recover completely without permanent injury to their kidneys," the physician explained. "Many develop temporary high blood pressure and marked swelling. For these we prescribe bed rest and restrict salt intake. Then we give drugs for their high blood pressure. Occasionally one will develop severe heart failure and it may become necessary to give him digitalis. But this doesn't happen too often."
TEN DAYS Dr. Rosenbaum said the marked swelling, which is part of this serious kidney ailment of childhood, usually disappears in 10 days to two weeks."Impetigo is a highly contagious disease," the pediatrician explained, "It goes from child to child and from one member of the family to another." Dr. Rosenbaum said all over the South there appears to be a marked relationship between impetigo and the mosquito. In the North, he added, children are more apt to develop glomerulonephritis following severe sore throat.
The pediatrician believes it would be a good idea to trap mosquitoes in this area and culture them, to determine just how many are actual carriers of "strep" germs or viruses. PHOTO: Dr. Percy Rosenbaum, professor of pediatrics at Louisiana State University School of Medicine, is studying impetigo in children, a skin disease believed caused by mosquito bite and eventually affecting the kidneys. Dr. Rosenbaum is pictured with a child patient.
