Bisbee daily review., 1907-07-02
BEPREPAREO FOR LOCK JAW ON
 THE FOURTH
If Cannon Cracker or Toy Pis- toI InfIicts a Wound Have Tetanus Atni-Ioxin Injected at Once,

Prepare for the Glorious Fourth. Get out the arnica and the salve and the bandages and the cold cream and whoop'er up for the late George Wash ington and Independence. And above all, don't forget the anti-toxin. The city drug stores are having the fore sigh to lay in supply. local phy- sician said yesterday:
 Although there have never to my knowledge been any fatalities in this city as the result of Fourth of July ex- plosives there have been some serious accidents and it is always possible that there will be more serious ones. The greatest danger from such acci- dents in the possibility of tetanus. In | my opinion the parents of the Albu- querque small boy should have strong | ly impressed upon them the necssi- ty of anti-toxin in case of injuries. It saved thousands of lives in this coun- | y last summer and Its iaore gVn,Tal use vIll have the ef'ec5 of greatly re- ducing tGe Fourfl Of .i'Iiy 'no"tHlity. The adaTnistration of anu toxin J:;st as soon after the accslcn; as possible may mean the saving of small life. | The physician in question, who. ac- cording to the ethics of the profess ion has horror of seeing his name in print. calls attention to the following extract from the current number of the Journal of the American Medical association. Chicago.
 It is again time to sound the alarm and to prepare for the annual tetanus epidemic. We approach the celebra- tion with somewhat less apprehension this year than We did a few years ago. for there is now every reason to be- lieve that a few of the many deaths that will follow can be ascribed to anything but municipal and parental negligence. Physicians will do their part to keep the mortality figures at a minimum. For four years the Jour- nal has compiled statistics and pub lished comments on the injuries of the Fourth and their results, and for immediate and valuable results it has been most profitable undertaking. The first year, 1903, yielded 466 deaths as our tribute to IndepenGence day and of these 4I5 were due to tetanus On the basis of these figures a yogor. ous campaign was started and taken us enthusiastically by ether medical journals and the daily papers, which resulted in fall of the mortality oi the following year Co 1S3 deaths, los being from tetanus. This decrease it was easy to demonstrate, was the result of two factors, one being a con siderable decrease f30 per cent) in the number of blank cartridge wounds; the other, and perhaps the more striking was the improved pro . phylactic treatment of blank cartridge wounds, especially as regards the use of tetanus and aRti-toxin. In 1905 the total deaths and the number of te tanus cases remained about the same; 1S2 deaths and 104 cases of tetanus; while last year a gratifying decrease in tetanus to S9 cases was recorded the total number of deaths being i5S These S9 cases of preventable disease were shown by the reports We re ceived to be almost entirely of pa tients who were not seen by physi cians until lockjaw has already set in The old story of lack of appreciation of the dangers of Fourth of July in juries by the family physician wa seldom heard. And to, as we remark ed before, we look with confidence t a continuance of the record of tn past three years. and feel assured | in making the price Of our senseles celebration" was small as possible
 There Is little that we can add t the advice as to the prophyluaxis 0 tetanus which we have printed in prt yious years. Every luacerated woun received from Fourth of July expIos ives, no matter which variety, mus be looked on as a wound that is yer possibly infected with tetanus Tn character of these wounds is sucl that their cleansing can only properly accomplished. as a rule, UT der general anesthesia; and to rende lconditions unfavorable for the ans erobic tetanus bacillus they should b permitted to heal from t'is bottom And especially 1t must be remen bered that, in spite of even the bes surgical cleansing, tetanus still ma result, and consequently onl through the prophylaetic injection c ' from 5 to 10 cubic centimeters of te tanus anti-toxin can one be absolute ly certain of preventing the disease This is most particularly true o wounds which are not seen until on or more days old. As the usual il cubation period of tetanus Is froI five to fifteen days, there are fe' physicians too far removed from
 supply of anti-toxin as a prophylacti as well as it's harmlessness. hay been repeatedly proved. but neye better than by the results of its us after the last three celebrations. may be well to emphasize the proph. tactic treatment of wounds from cal non crackers and the various explo
 ives other than blank cartridges. On statistics show that SO far the d crease in deaths from tetaDus hs been accomplished almost exclusiv ! ly by the prevention of tefanus blank cartridge wounds, while tI nmber of cases of tetanus from u other explosives has remained almO
 constant As a result, in 1906 th
 blank cartridge tetanus was but lit
 more than tetanus from all oth,
 causes combined, whereas in 1903
 constituted seven-eights of all th
 cases. Apparently this is because u
 tetanus danger of blank cartrids
 wounds has been so well emphasize
 that the danger in the other woun,
 has been overlooked