Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-02-19
DITITT1II1RIA.


Tho lawmakers should Increase the
efficiency and authority OF the city
and county official health departments.
Tho mandatory duties Of these offices
should bc made to include the imme-
dIato meteorological investigation "
every suspicious case Of sore throat.
with "a view To- determining whether
or not The bsciul o.. dlphtheria are
present ln the membrane.
The now anu-toxiu for dlphthcria Be-
made the subject OF an extended arr
tclc in recent issue Of the satur-
day Evening Poet
The conclusions arrived at are that
Then. is mo- longer any doubt az 90 the
efficacy OFF the serum discovered and
perfected by the joint and successive
lobou OF Pasteur, Koch, and BouN
On this great discovery. tho French
scientists have borne the leading pant
ably seconded by the German Robert
Koch and the Russian Halrkinc
Tho history OF the trcitmsat hy
which tho dreaded diphtherla nss been
robbed Of most Of its tcrrors is very
instructive IN Paris In 1885, whore
two hospitals for the new method 90
Don tried were FIRST established. liS pa
ucnts were treated Ia six months
According 20 one more system work
cd out by Roux, each child was given,
hypodcrmlcally an amount Of serum
equal 10 the one onc-thousandth part
of the weight Of the child. In the
majority OF cases al least two injcc-
lions took place. one following the
other after lapse Of twcnty-four hours.
Twenty cubic ccntimctors was the
standard dose; ln some cases more
than i25 cubic ccntImcters were given
in all As the cubic ccntImenter Of
liquid approximates a teaspoonful It
win De seen that the injections were
Ia no way homeopathic.
Many 81 tho children brought 20 the
hospitals were already IN the last
stages, and their treatment was little
more than a sad matter OF form. Many
children. too. had diphtheria compli-
Gated with other troubles-and not
merely the familiar measles and scar
latina, but erysipelas, Assesses Of the
throat, bronchial pneumonia, and tu-
berculosis. In the case Of tuberculosis
tho serum treatment was found to be
not merely negative In results, but
undoubtedly harmful; and for such
patients It was later to be wholly
abandoned The results In these COM
plioated cases were that out OF go
cases treated Ia six months Sl6 died.
showing a mortality Of go per cent.
The treatment was improved by Roux
TN there occurred only 100 deaths out
OF AS cases, reducing the mortality 10
about "a per cent
Similar results were obtained In Rus
STA. Prior 20 the discovery of the Sc
rum, very slight hope was entertained
OF saving any young child stricken
with diphtheria But whenever, under
the now system. the patient came un-
der treatment early enough, the neces-
sity Of an operation was almost always
obviated. Again and again the suffocat-
ing false membranes and with them
Allt Nhillu lAeA lNbANNANAf hNAaA -
come away thlrty-six hours after the
first injection; ia few examples did
they persist after the third day. Some
temporary eruptions alone resulted
from the great quantities Of serum abb
sorbcd by the system. The general
period OF oonvalescence was more than
cut In two, and the danger OF all
after-troubles wonderfully tessened.
Certain OF the cures effected, too, SEEM
ed almost miraculous.
The total percentage Of losses had
been 2ih per cent. But one Of the
immediate results OF that first serum
test has been a great reformation In
the infectious wards Of all sick chill
dren's hospitals and as the treatment
has become better understood, the
average Of losses has been rapidly re-
duced TO between 70 per cent. and IS
per cent. For Paris this has meant q
saving Of more than 800 children an
nually u has meant almost as much
for New York u has meant stin more
for st. Petersburg and Moscow. In
Russia the disease for some reason
has always boon more vlrulent than
in other parts Of Europe.