The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1911-10-28

A physician can only put the patient IN coho'
ton to weather the storm as well as possioie
But while little can be done after the alseaa'
has developed, careful parents can DO hucn "
prevent their children from taking the maaoy'
The children's noses can be kept clean Dr' fieA
ner regards this most important Also, certain
disinfectants If used mouth and nose WASH
during the summer danger period, are enecuVe.
one per cent. solution of hydrogen peroxide VIII
kill the germ of infantie paralysis so VIII
plain menthol Each of these statements Is maue
upon the authority of DR.. Flexner.
Yet the germ that causes infatnile paralysis Is
more vrulent than the germ of rabies Dr fieS-
ner discovered that the paralysis germ could not
even be weekend by drying it for weeks over
caustc potash nor by keeping it frozen for weeks
But hydrogen peroxide and menthol Kill It,
DR. Flexner is now and has been for some ume
conducting experiments to learn whether hles
carry the germs and spread the disease. he has
already definitely learned that flies do carry the
germs, but he has not demonstrated that the
germs when carried. get into the system ana
produce the disease.
Infantile paralysis came to this country from
Scandinavia Prior to 1907 1t had seldom occurred
here Since then it has been epidemic from the
Atlantic to the Pacific New York and Boston.
where so many immigrants gather, have suffered
most Minnesota. to which SO many Scandnavians
remove comes next The disease 1ourishes dur
ing hot, dry summers. 1t is sort OF sister
disease of cerebrospinal meningitis and, years
ago was probably often mistaken for that disease
conspicuous point of difference is that the Tor
mer malady comes in late winter or early spring.
while infantile paralysis comes in summer In
fantile paralysis is most likely to attack chdren
less than four years old. though adults are not
immune But attack most likely makes the
subject immune for life. DR. Flexners expert
ments upon monkeys indicate as much
But barking back to the causes OF preventable
deaths of children, this much more may be said:
Mothers are too prone to buy medicine from doc
tors and not enough given to buying information
from them Mothers who do not know how to
care for their children should not wait until
child is sick and then call the doctor to dose the
child They should call the doctor when the
child is well. and pay him his regulation fee tor
sitting down half an hour and nstructing them
with regard to the care of the child Most mothers
need information more than their children need
medicine Doctors, when called. often give harm
less medicine when none is needed, simply be-
cause the public feels that 1t must have something
for it's money The public is not wise enough
to know that 1t spend Its money IN no better
way than to buy certain information that tends
toward the maintenance of health Dtarrhea. tor
instance, which kills babies. perhaps. than
any other single cause is solely disturbance
of the digestive tract due to wrong feeding, MIX
containing thirtyseven million bacteria to the
cubic centimeter-or even a million-will cause II.
Cows milk properly modified is certain to
upset the stomachs OF infants. halfhour with
good physician will enable a mother to get In
formation that may prevent her child from sicken-
ing and dying
In the meantime the responsibility for the
avoidable deaths OF children must largely rest
with the few who knowing how to take care OF
their own do not. for one reason or another. take
effective measures to pass on this knowledge to
others few men control every government
national, state and municipal. These men, II they
wanted to. could compel government to dissent
nate the vast amount OF information concerning
the prevention of infant mortality France moved
when her tirth-rat. became SO low that she had
to move When children become scarce, govern
rents sometimes careful OF their health as
thew are other times OF the health OF hogs