The Washington herald., 1912-09-20
TUBERCULOSIS
SOCIAL DISEASE
DR.. s. Adolphus Knopf, Of New
York, Addresses Public Health
Association on White Plague.
CHILD LABOR SHOULD
BE ABOLISHED. HE SAYS
Prominent Physicians Speak at Ses.
sions on Prevention of Con-
tagious Maladies.

Tuberculosis is a social disease in the
| final analysis. 1t cannot be eradicated
unless and until we have social Justice" I"
| DR.. S. Adolphus Knopf, of New York,
thus summed up the fight against the
white plague in a paper entitled Some
Newer Problems in the Anti-tubercu-
losis Warfare in the United States" be-
fore last nights session of the American
Public Health Association, in session At
the New Willard.
DR.. Knopf dealt largely with the tuber-
culosis problem as associated with tho
child-labor question. He said that to
separate the two problems is impossible,
that the one is dependent to a very great
extent on the other, that until child labor
conditions are rectified, the warfare
against tuberculosis must go on under q
great handicap.
Child labor predisposes to tubercu-
losis," he said. This does not apply
exclusively to child labor in the factory.
In many cases child labor in the home Is
as bad as in the factory. and the danger
from tuberculosis is just as great"
Disease Transmitted Through Milk.
Bovine tuberculosis. said DR.. Knopf. is
one of the most dangerous forms, partic-
ularly as regards the child. Seventy per
cent of the deaths among children from
the white plague, he said, are from bo-
vine tuberculosis, which recent expert
ments have proven conclusively is easily
communicated through butter and other
dairy products.
There is no question" he added, but
that tuberculosis can be inherited. and
in large families II is the last child who
is most liable to bring the malady into
the world with him.
The open-air school is invaluable in
fighting tuberculosis. DIR. Knopf said, but
the plan should be applied to high
schools and colleges, as well as to gram
mar schools.
DIR. Hoyt E. Dearholt, executive secre-
tary OF the Wisconsin Anti-tuberculosis
Association, told of the value OF publicity
iE fighting tuberculosis.
a means Of plague prevention and pro-
lection was given in a paper by DR..
William Colby Rucker, Assistant Surgeon
General of the Public Health and Marine
Hospital Service. DIR. Rucker was prom
inent in the. recent fight against plague
in Cuba and Porto Rico. He said, in
part:
Science has placed in our hands, as 1t
were. high powered weapon Of precision
and it is no longer necessary to use the
blunderbus of absolute quarantine to
frighten off the plague nor to burn
cities to drive 1t out, once 1t has gained
entrance.
comprehends the single basic fact that
it is a rodent disease, and that il man
allows himself to come into contact with
II 1t is his own fault. Secondly, 1t has
been recognized that the rat and his
congeners are the great agents in the !
extension OF the acute form OF the /,
and that the ground squirrel and |
its allowed species are responsible for
the perpetuation OF the disease in
chronic form
Gives List of Rules.
DR.. Rucker gave the following rules 70.
plague prevention: The protection Of the
home against rats; the prevention of the
migration of rats: the protection of rats
against infection: the immunization Of
the individual: periodic rodent surveys |
Other papers were read by Dr. Alfredo |
G. Dominguez. of Cuba; DIR. Eduardo |
Liceaga, of Mexico: Dr. W. H Frost, |
assistant surgeon Public Health Service |
of this city; DR.. E. c. Levy. OF Rich |
mond: F. d. Bell, of New York; Drs. |
William Royal Stokes and F. w. Hachtel. |
Of Baltimore; and DR.. ]. n. Force, of |
California.
The afternoon was given over to meet
lngs of different sections of the meeting, |
while in the morning the general session
was given over largely to a symposium
on the cold storage problem.
Of1cers for the ensuing year are to be
elected and the next meeting place de-
upon at a business meeting
this morning. The general session fol-
lowing will be given over largely to pa
pers on typhoid prevention and water