New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-03
SAYS SWAT FLIES
And SAVE BABIES
DR.. Pratt Says Campaign
Upon Pests Reduces
Diseases.
EXPERIMENT WAS
MADE ON EAST SIDE
Summer Infantile Troubles We're
Brought Down to Only
Third of Normal.

Jacksonville, Fla, Dec. 1.-The value
of publicity in campaigns for the pro-
motion of the public health was en-
phasized here tonight by Edward A.
Morse, of New York, in an address at
the annual convention of the American
Public Health Association. Newspaper
advertising was especially commended.
81 have no sympathy with the ad-
vertising quack, and | believe, as a
former newspaper man, that properly
conceived public policy would exclude
advertising of harmful patent medl-
cines," said Mr.. Morse, who is engaged
in public health work. But | also be-
leve our criticisms would come with
better grace and more force if we rec
ognized that newspapers had space to
sell and that advertising space was
their chief source OF income"
The speaker did not advocate per-
sonal advertising by physicians, but
said he believed it to be both necessary
and desirable in health campaigns of
general interest.
Philip S. Pratt, superintendent of the
Bureau of Public Health and Hygiene,
New York Association for Improving
the Condition of the Poor, asked:
"Will vigorous protection against the
hy reduce the amount of sickness
among New York's tenement babies ?"
Last year" Mr.. Plat said, "the Blu
reau of Public Health and Hygiene
showed that the general cleanup of a
neighborhood, accompanied by "a re-
duction in the number of flies, resulted
in one-third as much communicable
disease as occurred in a dirty, insani-
tary, fy-prevalent district. This sum-
mer the emphasis was laid on the pro-
lection of the infant against flies, so
that the amount Of sickness conveyed
by the fy alone could be determined
without any complicating factors, such
as general clean-ups, confusing the re-
suit.
ain typical Jewish, Italian and Irish
districts, each covering about eighteen
square blocks, 1900 homes containing
infants under the age of one year were
selected. Twelve nurses and three SUI
pervisors visited each home every five
days. In half of these the intensive
campaign against the fly was carried
out Every effort was made to protect
the infant against flies.
"Over 1000 yards of netting was
distributed free of cost. Large guam
titles Of fypaper and various kinds of
effective. illustrated literature were
given away. The frequent visits of the
nurses were an important factor in
securing the effective cooperation OF
the families, and enabled the careful
recording of the conditions Of the
home, the family, the infant, and OF
the cases of sickness.
another interesting result Of the
study may be seen by comparing the
amount of diarrheal disease in infants
whose homes were clean with that of
those whose homes were dirty. Consid-
erably more diarrhea occurred in the
dirty than in the clean homes. This
difference was almost twice that OBJ
served existing between the homes
where the infants we're well protected
and those where the protection was
poor, indicating from the data at pres
ent in hand that general cleanliness in
the home is more important than SIM
ly protecting the infant from the fly.
GAS would be expected, the ratio be-
comes even greater when both the fly
factor and the sanitation or cleanliness
factor are measured. when the diar-
rhpal disease in the well protected,
clean homes is balanced against that
found in the poorly protected. dirty
homes. Over three times as much diar-
rhGa occurred in the poorly protected,
dirty homes as in the well protected,
clean ones"
To-day was national mouth hygiene
day at the convention. The National
Mouth Hygiene Association. Of which
DR.. Harvey ". Wiley. of pure food