Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
figure 5.3.A''typicalkitchen''inCaribbeanGuatemala(1920s).UnitedFruit
CompanyPhotographCollection.BakerLibrary,HarvardBusinessSchool.
mosquitoes (zancudales). There was no metal screening in the kitchens.
Ay,themalaria!OnedaywhenIwasachild,Icaughtafever.Thenchillsset
in—what shivering! Then, the high temperatures came back—a burning
fever. There were people who died from malaria.''
45
During the 1920s, the fruit companies' hospitals treated thousands
of cases of malaria on an annual basis. In 1926, the admission rate to
UnitedFruitCompanyhospitalsofemployeeswithmalariawas254/1,000;
in other words, one in four employees who sought medical treatment did
soformalaria.
46
In1926,UnitedFruitimplementedamultifacetedmalaria
control program that combined reducing mosquito breeding grounds
via insecticide applications, mandatory treatment of sick employees, and
chemotherapy (quinine and Plasmochin). United Fruit medical reports
indicate that both mortality and morbidity rates for malaria fell signifi-
cantlythrough1931,thelastyearforwhichpublishedreportsexist.
47
How-
ever, malaria remained the ''predominant disease'' among Tela Railroad
Company workers during the 1930s.
48
In 1935, the numberof treated cases
among Standard Fruit's employees exceeded seven thousand.
49
One year
