The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-02
EXPLANATION OF
 SCHICK'S TEST
 FOR DIPTHERIA

Many inquiries have been received l recently by the state department of 1 health concerning the Schick test l and the admistration of toxin-anti- | toxin. The purpose of the Schick | test is merely to determine whether l or not a person is susceptible to diph- theria. Many people have in their blood sufficient antitoxin to render them immune. Nursing infants have a. high degree of immunity due, ap- parently, to some protective sub stance in mothers milk; but imme- diately after being weened children
 develop 8 high degree of suscepti-
 btlity to diphtheria. Between the ages of one and two years nearly 30 per cent of children are liable to con-
 tract the disease. The highest per-
 centage of diphtheira deaths occurs
 in children between the ages of two
 and ten years. Beginning with in-
 fancy the blood of most people grad
 ua1ly develops certain antibodies which resist the attacks of 'diphtheria
 germs. This resistance increases
 yearly, and by the time adult life is
 reached about S5 per cent of all peo-
 pie are immune to the disease.
 By the use of the Schick test 1t can be shown whether or not a child may contract diphtheriaL. The test is simple, harmless and inexpensie. The material used cost less than five cents per test. The test consists of the in- lection of 8 few drops of dtphtheria toxin between the layers of the skin of the arm. If a characteristic red spot appears at the site of injection l within forty-eight hours. the test is declared positive, which indicates l that the person Is liable to contract diphtheria. If no redness appears, | the test is said to be negative, which 1 means that the subject already has l in his blood sufficient protective anti l bodies to render him immune to the l disease. Diphtheria toxin is a poison produced by diphtheria germs, and
 it is obtained by growing the bacteria 1 in broth for a certain length of time, 1 after which they arc killed by car. bolic acid and prepared for use in 1 the schick test.
 Diphtheria toxin should not be con- 1 fused with antitoxin or toxin-antitox- | fin. Antitoxin is the serum injected
 into a person afflicted with diphtheria. It's purpose is to neutra1ize the poison 1 produced by diphtheria germs. It is 1 also used to furnish temporary i'm munity to persons exposed to the di-
 ase. Before antitoxin was discov- cred, more than one-third of all the cases or CAOIld LSTIHludLGO 1d- ! tally. The disease is now fatal in about one case out of every ten, but
 it is almost never fatal when anti
 toxin is administered early enough and
 in single, sufficiently large dose. IT
 advanced cases the antitoxin shoult
 be injected directly into the veins ant not merely under the skin.
 For protective purposes, the use O antitoxin furnishes a quick but pas sive immunity, which lasts only a fev
 weeks. Probably permanent in1nu
 nifty may be secured however by tn
 use of toxin-antitoxin, which is a ser
 um produced by combining diph , theria toxin with antitoxin. It is ad ! rninistered in three doses, a weel ? apart. The treatment Is harmless. Il a certain percentage of cases it re
 suits in redness, slight swelling an N tenderness of the arm and 8 mil . . rise of temperature; put these sym toms, when they occur at all, gener ally disappear within 4s hours. It re
 quires to 12 weeks, after the ad T rninistration of toxin-antitoxin befor ;. immunity is established.
 y Parents can protect their childre y y | against diphtheria by having th schick test made to determine thei