The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1903-09-08
The Prevention
of tuberculosis

tion of tuberculosis was organized in
November, 1901. The name indicates
its object. One of the chief methods
to be employed for obtaining this OBJ
ject will be the dissemination of re-
liable information concerning the
cause and prevention of tuberculosis.
A series of short articles on this sub
ject, of which this is the first, has
been prepared.
WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS.
Many interesting phases of the sub
ject must be left untouched from
lack of space; but any question which
interested readers may wish to have
answered should be sent to the secre-
tary, who will furnish the informa
tion desired, if possible.
The society now numbers more
| than 800 members-men and women,
physicians and laymen. Any one wish
| ing to Join will be warmly welcomed.
6,OO0 OHIO VICTIMS YEARLY.
Tuberculosis is a disease which may
affect any organ of the body. The
lungs are most generally attacked.
Here it is known as consumption, on
account of the great wasting of the
body usually present before death.
tuberculosis destroys more than
8 600 people in this State every year.
If allowed to go on unchecked, fully
100000 of those now living in Ohio
must die from this disease.
KNOWN FROM EARLY AGES.
The disease has been known from
the earliest history of medicine, and
continues to prevail in all parts of
the civilized world. Its infectious
character was long ago more than
once suggested.
Toward the close of the eighteenth
century this must have been the pop
ular belief in many countries. In
Naples. In 1882, a royal decree re-
quired the disease to be reported and
quarantined. Disinfection was car
ried out after the death or recovery
of the patient.
THEORY OF HEREDITY.
This idea of the communicability
of consumption, so strongly fixed IL
the minds of the Neapolitans al
others, was gradually dispelled b,
the theory of heredity. Il is of great
importance that this question a
heredity should be correctly and very
generally understood.
To know that it is not an inherite'
disease should bring hope and glad
ness to thousands of tuberculosis,
parents, and to the children of such
lparents. Acting under the belief
that the disease was inherited rc
precautions were taken to preven
1.-THE communication of consumptio
from one to another. Whole fami-
lies were swept away-not on ao-
count of heredity, but because the
living germ that produces it was not
destroyed.
DISCOVERY OF TRUE CAUSE
With the discovery of the veritablt
cause of tuberculosis, to which allu.
sion will be made later on, heredity
as the cause of the disease could no
longer be accepted
We can now be absolutely certain
THAT without this germ of tubercu.
losis there can be no tuberculosis.
To inherit consumption it would be
necessary for this germ to be trans
United from parent to offspring, and
we know that this practically never
happens.
ONLY A MINOR PART.
Heredity does play part in the de-
velopmeut of tuberculosis, but only
the minor part of one among many
of the predisposing causes.
i One may inherit tendency to tub
erculosis. Other things being equal
a child with one parent, and especial
lily both, consumptive, will be more
apt to develop the disease when ex
posed to the exciting cause than a
child whose parents have been free
from tuberculosis.
Experiments in preventing the
spread of tuberculosis among animal.
is most instructive. Bangs of Copen
hagen, who is an authority on thi.
subject, has shown that it is possible
to entirely eradicate the disease
from a herd of cattle in the follow
ing manner:
INTERESTING EXPERIMENT.
The animals are all tested for tub
erculosis by injections of tuberculin
The sick and the well animals arr
then completely separated. Calves
born of tuberculous mothers are a
once removed, and are fed on mill
from healthy animal.
Frequent tests with tuberculin ar,
made of the apparently healthy ami
mails, and any found to have develop
ed tuberculosis are rejected. In on
{ or two years time it is possible in thi
. manner to entirely weed out tubercu
: losis from a large herd of animals
!, even when 80 per cent or more o
l them were affect d in the beginning
Calves separated from tuberculou
4 mothers at birth rarely develop tn
disease If kept from other animal
affected with tuberculosis.
ri SAME IN HUMAN FAMILY.
: The same results may be obtaine
in the human family. Bernheim give
p the following striking examples:
: ''The family B. was composed of fiv
!, children, father who died of cor
h sumption and a mother who was vel
!, "The second child was remove