The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1914-11-20

Minnesota Has Accomplished Much in
Effort for Prevention and Control
Of Dreaded Disease.
OFFICIALS ALIVE 70 DANGERS
Ferreting Out Of Tubercularily At
feeted Persons No Easy Matter
Nearly 10000 Wards Cared For.

/ ~ Z s.2 = "a Il
Minnesota probably has done more
toward the prevention and control of
tuberculosis than any other state in
the Union. It conducts hospital
at Walker for the study and cure of
this disease, aids financially in the
erection of sanatoria by counties or
groups of counties, and maintains in
connection with the various insane
hospitals and asylums and the
school for the feeble minded, as we'll
as other state institutions, special
buildings and sick wards, the popu-
lation of which is tubercularily af-
fected. There is special diet, spe-
cial treatment and special nursing
for such and the cost runs into hun
dreds of thousands of dollars an
nually.
A Communicable Disease.
OF all the ills that man is heir to
none Of them has received greater
attention from the medical profess
sion and the laymen interested in it's
suppression and control than tuber-
culosis. Naturally in the arguments
advanced and the many papers writ
ten on the subject there has been
much difference Of opinion. Prac-
tically every state has listed tuber-
culosis as a communicable disease
and out of this theory has grown sew
eral quarantine precautions, and yet
one eminent Eastern authority char
acterizes the contagious idea as with
out foundation. Others, while IA
voring quarantine, however, insist
that the grouping of all persons af-
ficted aggravates rather than helpss
They hold that it is an individual
rather than collective problem.
An Injustice.
Quoting one Of the medical heads
of tIsss oldest insane hospital in the
state: cit is simplicity to say, place
in a tubercular ward all tubercular
patients, but in practice the matter
is greatly complicated with modifi-
cations and exceptions. We always
have inmates with large ceryical
glands existing for years and in fair
fo a in i,1c q
to place people among the tubercu-
lar, for if there is anything in COM
municability they are liable to re-
ceive lung infection if so placed. The
very logic that guarantees the open
cases argues against the quarantin-
ing Of the others with them. 1t is
the same with the others who have a
suspicion Of the disease"
The medical head of this partic-
ular insane hospital has decided
views concerning too strict quaran-
tine for those with suspicion of
tuberculosis or even patients known
to be slightly affected, and these
views are shared in to considerable
extent by the medical stats of the
other state hospitals and institu-
tions. AS to communicating ma
jority of them are in measure
agreed that it is to large extent ex-
aggerated as to .incipient cases.
Aloofness and quarantine they say
often cause the most intense mental
suffering and consequently aggra-
waite instead of helping. -
Alive to Danger.
While all these views as advanced
are interesting and enlightening,
both the board of control and the
several medical stats are alive to
the danger of this dread disease and
the necessity for its control. A con-
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