The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1910-04-13
Health Forces
Defeat Death
Continued from First p se.


~ apiece! Is 1t paternaIfstic and so.
cialistic to protect them against dan.
gerous lnfections at the rate Of 81 per
head? That is what the state of Penn
syly ania is doing now This conserva-
tive old commonwealth has reached
that stage of paternalism where the
government will not sit quietly h,v
and watch a little child choke to death
with diphtheria when the expenditure
of few dollars from the public treas
ury will relieve its sufferings and save
its life.
Saving the Little Ones.
For the last ten years the practical
remedy for diphtheria has been avail.
able for the children of prosperous
households, but It has not been avail.
able for the poor. Since Won Behring's
immortal discovery that the blood
serum Of horse which has recovered
from diphtheria possessed wonderful
curative properties, and when intro.
duced into the human organism, would
usually destroy the disease, this for
mer scourge of childhood has lost
nearly all its terrors. In the old days
diphtheria destroyed nearly one-half
of all the children It assailed II would
do the same today among the poor in
Pennsylvania were it not for the anti
toxin which the state provides free.
That large numbers of unprotected
children have died most shocking
deaths in the past for the sole reason
that their parents were too poor to
afford them anti-toyn, is melancholy
reflection, but these things will not
HAPPEN in the future. In every corner
of Pennsylvania usually at well known
drug stores, there are now stations for
the free distribution of anti-toXin
numbering $50. Whenever any poor
mans child falls i'll with diphtheriG
his physician, by making out a propc"
application, can secure free all {. .
hnti-toxin he needs to effect a cure.
Since October, 1905, the Health De-
partment has in this way distributed
4a,443 packages of anti-toxin. It has.
treated 1929 sick peorle, mostly chill
dren, who, but for the states inter
vention, would have been neglected. IN
the old days about 10000 of these chill
dren would have died. as a matter Of
fact. only 1925 died. Nearly all those
who died were children who did not
receive the anti-toxin until the late
stages Of the disease. The detailed
statistics of the department show that
the earlier the sick child receives the
~ 10 10 oh nf
recovery. These facts SHOULD" empha-
size the pressing need, in all cases,
not only of anti-toYin treatment, but
Of this treatment at the earliest pos
sible time The department has also
thoroughly tested the powers of anti
toxin as an immunizing agent. Diph-
iberia, as every one knows, is one Of
the most virulently contagious dis
eases. It travels like lightning from
the sick to the we'll In the crowded
homes of the poor, many of them ideal
culture tubes for the growth of the
microbes, its virulence is especially
marked. The department in three
years has immunized with antitoxin
1887 persons, nearly all children,
who had been exposed to the disease
OF these only 251 acquired it-a little
more than one per cent. The State
Department Of Health's free distribu-
tion of antitoxin to the poor, there.
fore, has saved over 5000 lives at an
average cost of seven dollars each and
prevented contagion in several thou.
sands of cases at on average cost Of
two dollars.
Battle Against tuberculosis.
In its attitude towards the great
problem Of tuberculosis, the state gov
eminent also shows this keen sense
Of responsibility for the safety of the
people. The department of health re-
CARDS all the tuberculosis poor as in a
large sense the wards of the state It's
efforts, in the first place, are to pre-
vent them from falling victims to this
insidious disease. and in the second,
to assist materially in curing those
who have become infected.
The death rate from tuberculosis IN
this state has fallen from 1874 to 120
per one thousand Of population in
four years. This means saving Of
1000 lives annually.
In the matter Of tuberculosis, how
ever, the death rate tells only small
part Of the story. Any work in i'm
proving conditions must be funda-
mental, and 1t will necessarily take
many years before extensive results
are obtained. What the department
has done has been to lay the founda-
ton Of comprehensive attack. From |
its laboratory investigations Of the
tubercle bacillus to its especially
equipped sanatoria, there is no as
pect of the disease that it does not |
study and combat. 1t aims to enter
at every stage into the life of the tu-
berculous poor. To many citizens the
state government is more or less of |
an indefinite idea; they seldom come
into contact with it as living, acting
entity; If you are once striSVn with
tuberculosis, however especially If you
are poor, the commonwealth of Penn