The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-02-22
BY ESTHER GRIFFIN WHITE.

Disease is insidious
If 1t cannot assault the human
animal in one way it will in another.
1t creeps in like that famous thief
in the night"
presence it has you by the throat and
completely at its mercy.
These enemies of mankind have
held high sway for ages.
Their origin is lost in mystery.
| And is inimical to the theory of
divine goodness and protection.
| Modern sanitation and the medical
profession have done much to combat
these ills and to minimize their in
fluence.
But, like rank and noxious weed,
unless kept under constant surveillance
and trampled under the heel of ever
lasting vigilance, they spring up in I'M
expected places and with seemingly
undiminished vigor.
This is the case with scarlet fever.
This is one of the most dreaded
diseases of childhood.
| For it's effects are substle and mys-
FERROUS.
| Light cases of scarlet fever have
been known to be followed by the
most disastrous physical manifesto
| tons
The writer knows of one girl who
was made permanently deaf-with
consequent loss of speech-through
the operations of scarlet fever after
she had been declared recovered by
her physician.
| Vigorous segregation measures, as
vigorously enforced, caused scarlet
fever for a number of years to be ex-
tremely occasional.
When the yellow card was up the
latter attracted attention.
For it was unusual.
| And indicated a quarantine that was
respected.
OF late this city has had numerous
visitations of this disease.
The yellow card is so common that
it's significance is almost lost
And fear of the i'll it fiaunts has
almost ceased.
In the news columns of the Pallad-
ium an evening or so ago an article
/ by Professor Ebert Russell, of Earl
| ham College, charged the city health
officers of Richmond with negligence
of their duty
Mr.. Russell stated that when the
| latter were approached, they stated
they could not enforce the quarantine
on account of the lack of cooperation
from the physicians having the cases
in charge.
| The latter state that they would
gladly enforce the regulations if back
ed up by the health officer
1t seems that those in authority
should get together.
! For there is no doubt at all that this
city is in the grip of the scarlet fever
germ
| Cases are numerous.
Children, as pointed out by Mr..
Russell, who have been pronounced
scarlet fever victims have been per-
mitted to return to school or to ignore
the necessary quarantine.
! Mr.. Russell points out that the quar-
antine required by law is conspicuous
ly disregarded. That it reads:
"The minimum period of isolation
and exclusion from school in contag-
| ious diseases shall be as follows:
Scarlet Fever-For the patient and
children in the family with the patient,
quarantine for not less than twenty
one days after the beginning of the
disease; exclusion of the patient and
children associated with the patient
from school for ten days after the re-
moval of quarantine.
"Other children may, at the discre-
ton of the health officer having juris-
diction, be disinfected and removed to
another house, and shall there be iso-
lated and excluded from school for a
period of ten days and then relea Sed,
provided they remain free from the
disease"
There are further exact and explicit
rules governing adults given in full
by Mr.. Russell.
situation, locally, knows that these
rules are not enforced.
If they were, scarlet fever would not
be SO prevalent.
The school teachers of the city can
testify to this.
| One of them informed the writer
that she knew it to be the case that
while the school children were not per-
mitted to attend the funeral, they
were admitted in groups and singly to
"view the remains"
And that. with the curiousity of chill.
dren, many of them called at the house
in this manner to show their regard
for their playmate.
This, of course, should be stopped.
What if the cases are light" as the
authorities state?
Their infectious nature remains.
And the next case contracted from
the one which was not serious might
result disastrously.
The fact that the cases are light
may argue merely vigorous physical
condition on the part of the majority
of the patients.
A thing of this sort can be merged
into an epidemic before a community
could notice If