The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-09-28
is ON INCREASE
Fourteen New Cases of Diph-
iberia Reported Today.
Ten Children Sent Home From
School at Grant.

Ten children were sent home from
Grant school Tuesday afternoon be-
cause they had diphtheria. The throat
cultures of those children examined
today in the city psychological labora-
tory proved that the children were i'll
with diphtheria. Four new cases of
diphtheria reported by physicians of
the city to the city board of health
today increases the total of new cases
for today, including the ten at Grant
school, to fourteen, the largest num-
Der of new cases for any day this
week. Eleven new cases were re-
ported Tuesday.
Fourteen children examined Tues
day had temperatures of more than
995, two were found to register 101
and one child had temperature of
1924.
Lowman Hill is the only public
school that is free from diphtheria.
Other schools have cases as follows:
Lafayette, II; Quincy, ID; Grant, II;
Sacred Heart. Z; Mckinley, 6; State
Street. s; st. Joseph, g.; Central Park.
4 Potwin. 5; Assumption. 8 Clay, 3;
High school. 3; Washington, 8; Polk,
2: Branuer, 8; Parkdale, 3: Van
Buren,, 2; Lincoln, 6; Harrison. 1; Blu
chanan, 1; Monroe, 1; Holy Name, 1,
and Sumner. l.
All persons who have been exposed
to diphtheria should receive 1000
them imm ediate immunity from the
disease, altho the immunity will last
only a short time, it was recommended
by DR.. n. P. Sherwood, head of the
bacteriology department of Kansas
university in a conference with Topeka
physicians at the city board OF health
Tuesday night.
All unexposed individuals who are
susceptible to the disease should be
treated with toxin anti-toxin, which
will provide active immunization from
diphtheria in from five to eight weeks.
The susceptibility to diphtheria may
be determined by the use of the Sh1ck
test or slight injection of serum under
the SKIN II the Shick test shows nom
susceptibility the individual need take
no treatment of any kind for diph-
iberia.
valuable Service to Topeka.
Doctor Sherwood and his assistants
rendered valuable service to Topeka
in the intestinal trouble in the city in
January, 1920, and physicians of the
city place confidence in his ability 10
relieve the diphtheria situation.
The interesting development of the
use of anti-toxin was sketched by DIR.
Sherwood, showing how the serum
has been found to be the most scien-
tific and only successful method OF
treating diphtheria. In the early
SOS he said. the diphtheria toxin
was injected into animals to produce
anti-toxin. In 1897. horses were i'm
munized with the anti-toXin discovery
and not long afterward Theobald
Smith of Harvard immuniZed guinea
pigs with the anti-toXin and con-
ceived the idea of treating human be-
ings in that manner. In 1913. DIR.
Park, of New York city, treated hui
man beings in that way. In 1915.
diphtheria was checked in ten schools
in New York city. Seventy thousand
children We're given the Shick test
and thirty per cent of them were
found to be susceptible to diphtheria-
They were immunized with toxin-anti-
toxin. The toxin antf-toxin which
makes immunity for a longer period
will prevent recurring epidemics.
To Quarantine Children.
All children in the public schools
who are found to be carriers of the
disease should be quarantined and not
allowed to be out of quarantine until
released by the city board of health,
DR.. Sherwood recommended.
Children under school age should
be examined carefully by the family
physician and treated according to his
directions, as pre-schoOl age children
are difficult to reach by the city
board of health.
About fifty local physicians at