Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-12-07
SOMETHING ABOUT BLINDNESS.
A Doctor Gives Some Startling Facts
to the Medical Society.

| THIRTY PER CENT OF THE CASES SAID TO RESULT
| FROM INFLAMMATION IN BABYHoop-THE PAYsI-
CLAN PROPOSES A STEP BY WHICH MANY EYES
MAY BE SAVED.
| At recent meeting of the medical society
OF this city paper was read on the above sub
ject which has SO much interest for the public
at large that The STAR obtained permission to
publish some extracts, which it trusts may
have the effect of drawing the attention of
those having the care of infants to the great
dangers which are likely to follow a neglect Of
what appears at first to be only a simple ''cold
IN the eye" The Importance of the matter to
the community will be apparent from the
rather startling statemenst contained in the
paper.
II shall not burden your attention nor
tax your memory with long tables of statis-
tics which have been prepared at much pains
and with great accuracy by a number Of men
In different parts of the world, but will simply
state the fact which has been brought out by
these Investigations, that not less than thirty
per cent OF all the blindness in Europe and this
| country is caused by the purulent Inflammation
| THE EYES OF THE NEWBORN INFANTS.
Bringing the matter more nearly home to our
selves, there are now, according to the last CEN
sus, at least so 600 totally blind persons in the
| United States; and of these $1,000 at the very
least have been blind from birth, and have been
constant care and expense for the whole of
| thelr nVes. The minimum cost
o. sustenance of single person in our
best and most economical managed institutions
for the bind is about 1882 per annum This
\ makes Tor the mere keep" of these blind peo-
pie something like g, 900, 900 annually But if
| these $1,000 people had not been blind they
nrn iv,,ta -
ers only, and their net contribution to the
general fund can be taken as at least one dol
lar day on the average. Adding this amount
to the cost OF keeping them and we have the
total loss to the wealth of the United States,
each year, OF S7,5O0,00O. And this enormous
loss to the commonwealth. gentlemen. is due to
the ravages OF disease as preventable and
more durable than small pox find
| upon examining the records of single institu-
ton i'll this city (the central dispensarv) that
serious defects IN vision from neglected oph-
thalmia of infants forms about rs per cent of
all the eye cases treated there and in more than
| half OF this number
THE BLINDNESS WAS FATAL.
In single month there were brought there
three infants with both eyes totally destroyed
| by the disease, and if you could have seen the
| look OF anguish and reproach in the faces of
| those mothers-two of them hardly more than
| children Reconsideration told that their
paDies would never see again, the prevention
| and proper treatment OF babies sore
eyes would not have then seemed to
you slight trivial affair. Nobody
| told me 1T was dangerous" they said
| They said it was only cold in the ewes and
that II put breast milk in them they would
infant is under the care of a competent physi-
clan, who examines into the condition of
the eyes each day and notes the very
FIRST appearance of the disease and
institutes prompt and vigorous measures
| Tor its relief, the danger is much less
But there are a large number of newborn
babies who are never seen by physician at all
| ana these are among class of people where
the condition for the development of the dis
ease are most favorable. 1T is highly important
| tnat those persons be in some way informed of
the danger Various methods of accomplishing
| this have been suggested. In England the opthal-
mological society of the united kingdom took
the matter in hand and in 1884 its committee,
composed OF the ablest men among its mem
| bers, made report of a series of resolutions
some modification of which deem adapted to
| the necessities of the. case in this country:
% That ophthalmia of newborn infants
| being the cause of a vast amount of blindness,
| mainly because of the ignorance of the public
| regarding its dangerous character and the con-
sequent neglect to apply for timely medical
aid, and it is desirable to instruct those in
| charge OF newborn children by a card in sub
| stance as follows:
| INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING NEWBORN INFANTS (:
TIA ehilds eyelids become red and swollen begin
without days delay to doctor. The disease is
very dangerous, and II not at treated may de-
stroy the sight of both eyes.
SUGGESTION FOR WASHINGTON.
In our own city think the health Office could
do great good by aiding in the distribution of
cards something like the above. They could be
given to the physicians of the poor for general
distribution in their respective districts. They
could also be left for distribution at
the various dispensaries and at what
ever other public institutions those
for whose benefit they are intended, are to be
found. The expense of printing such cards
would be trlfing and if there is no public fund
from which the cost could be paid / think that
there is no doubt but that it would be forth
coming from some private charity This, it
seems to me, in view Of the great importance
OF the subject even from the politico-economi-
cal point OF view, and laying aside all consider
| We can or should do