The Washington times., 1915-10-13
Vaccination
For Measles
Works Well
BY DIR. L. X. HIRSHBERG.

Copyright, 1918. Newspaper Feature 9ef~ino.)
n n EASLES is the Patsy Bolivar
|" Of infantile maladies. when .
lVx healthy man is asked, Have
you ever been sick?" the an
swer Is. Never in my lifs-oaly
measles"
Measles Is dismissed as lightly a. a
pun Of cigarette smoke. Yet the fatal
and annual ravages from measles 10
greater than that OF typhoid, rabies,
and smallpox. and the legion Of de-
fects, such as infamed eyes. running
ears. and other deformities. left a. It's
stigma upon human kind after recov-
cry. will never be accurately reported.
II YOU can tell the precise damage done
to children by measles you can solve
The inroads Of measles upon infants
has been checked In recent years only
Sy better sanitation and cleaner houses
, Mothers. however, still deceive them
selves and endanger the future strength
and efficiency of their youngsters BY
wrongly regarding measles as a trivial
or nearly harmless ailnent OF child.
hood ",s that .eyerybody must have"
nothing could be farther from the
truth.
Dr. C. Herman. Of New York city,
this ase.oid distemper Which have. % to
cay the least. distinct intelliSible
slimmer for the future. DR.. Herman
proposes to make infants immune to
old. T His meth method Is the outsro"ts @ Gn'of ot
the well-known discovery that infants
in the early months Of llfe.. when near
others with measles, consistently e.
cape its depredations.
| Method of 'Immunizing.
| DR.. Herman obtained the consent
first Of the mother. a personal friend. to
inject her four-months-old baby with
blood from a patient down with measles
This experiment usually causes measles
in older children and grown-ups who
have never had it.
| Sure enough, the little fellow escaped
the distemper. SO the savant proceeded
| to make other children under Ave
months immune. In no single instance
Of more than forty babies thus vac
any unpleasant or disagreeaele eonse-
lquences.
The vaccine for injection was taken
from the nasal fluids OF children with
skin all broke OUT. All such children
we're tested with a wassermann and
other blood tests to insure that they
were. except for measles. absolutely
Swabs Of cotton were used to collect
the fluids from the nose. ana these
were kept in sterilized glass tubes. The
vaccination OF the infants. preferably
betwes, four and fve months. VA
made by the application Of the moist
cotton to the inside Of the nostrils OF
the healthy child.
Fifteen Of the over forty infants thu
vaccinated against measles had. at the
end Of from eight to fourteen days: z
small number of spots on the sdn
which would have been ignored under
usual conditions. but when taken oy
ana large with the experiments seem
10 prove that. as in smallpox vacina-
lion. immunity to measles Is accom-.
pa MED by a mild. almost unooservso
fever. . ..
It appears. then, that mean: y at
Inst available whereby the depredaeon.
OF this most ntagious OF childhooo
visitations may he warded on. II no'
stamped out. Since practice 10 very
ioath TO run close upon the heels Q,
knowledge: since man Is sot IN M
ways" and customs. tradition: isnoI !,
enCe. and superstition are always u
opposition to new first aids 1t VIII oe
perhaps, two generations hence oei1.,
compulsory vaccination against meaae'
will he adopted.