The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-05-03
Information On
 Diphtheria To
 Be Issued Soon

The Division of Communicable Dis eases of the Health Department will issue an instructive paper of 'Diph- theria-Its Prevention and Treat ment,' shortly, to parents and school children. The paper urges that the Shick test be made on every child to test the chiIdS susceptibility to diphtheria. The test is harmless and leaves no fa,ter effects on the child
 Following is the text of the pamh- let:
 As a rule about one out of every ten children who contract diphtheria, die. This is a comparatively large death rate and is all the more to be regretted because diphtheria is a pre- most easily treated of all our com Bridgeport, there were 43o cases re- ported. Of this number 45 died.
 Diphtheria most frequently begins with a sore throat. The child may it swallows ,or the soreness may be so painful that all food and drink will be refused. There is also headache and fever, which is generally not high Sometimes the child will vomit
 In the severe types there is likely to be a swelling or lump at the angle of the jaw near the ear. These odor to the breath If you are able to examine the child's throat you prob ably will see gray patches on one or both tonsilS..
 most fatal of all. affects the throat. This begins with a slight croupy cough and some hoarseness. At night the crOupy condition is usually much worse and may be so bad that the child losses about the bed. gasping for breath If antitoxin is not given, the cough will become more crouuy and very tight. The child may. not n Ia ry~ out Io,,1 eases are very frequently overlooked by parents because of the fact that during the day the child may appear well and be able to play about the house or yarC.
 Frequently we have seen cases which although just before going to the hospital were able to play in the yard, become so severe that night that an operation was necessary to pre- vent them from choking to death. Be- fore the discovery Of anti-toxin this type of the disease killed about 90 to 95 out of every hundred who had it. Some cities now report that more than three-fourths Of all their deaths from diphtheria are due to this type
 Some people may have diphtheria germs in their nose or throat without knowing 1t. Such persons arc known as Carriers" Others may have slight case of diphtheria which was not recognized. These are called
 Such person are discovered only in a routine examination of the noses and threats in a family where a case has developed or in a routine exami- nation of children in the school. These carriers and missed cases may give the disease to another person in its severest form.
 Knowing that there are constantly in our midst persons having the germs of this diseaes. we can readily see how others can get these germs and thus develop d1phtherda- If the carriers or missed cases are not careful when coughing or sneezfng they may throw off ino the air @ number of the germs Persons standing near and breathing In these germs will most surely con tract the disease. Anotl>sr means of spreading diphtheria is by placing something into the mouth which has the germs on it, such as fingers, pen c1ls, drinking cups, and other objects
 Anttoxin Is the only cure. No other form Of medicine will do any good Before antitoxin was discovered about 30 to 50 out of every hundred who Contracted the disease died from it. With the use of antitoxin this number has been reduced to ten in each one hundred cases
 Parents take too lightly cases of sore throat which occur in their children. They attempt to treat these cases themselves until the child is too far gone to be helped by antitoxfn Parents owe %--to the child to be de- fin1te4ly sure that a sore throat is not dfphtheria. Every day that is delayed in the treatment of diphtheria makes the child's chances for recovery that much poorer. It has been definitely shown that 1t is rare for. a person to de from dtphtheria who has received antitoxin on the first day of their illness,
 The number of deaths increase with each days delay in the giving of anti toxin. about as follows; Six out of every hundred die when not treated until the second day; if treated on the thir day of the disease, nine die: on the fourth, 12; on the fifth, IS; and on the sixth, 17 out of every hundred die. These figures show how import ant 1t Is to have the child given anti toxin on the first day of the disease. Such persons claim it affects the heart Those who die from heart trouble would not have lived long enough to develop this trouble had antitoxin not been given The najoriy of those cases who die because of heart trouble are neglected. The phv- sician has not been called until the fourth day. at least, and possibly not for week. In some hospitals, all pa tients who have been stsk for three days or more before antitoxin was given are kept in bed for three weeks to guard heart trouble. Any parent who refuses to allow antitoxin to be given to their children when they Nave diphtheria deliberately risk their lives.
 By a simple test which does not cause any pain and will not injure the heaith of the child, we are able to tell in few days if your child can catch this disease. It the test proves that he is liable to catch diphtheria three more injections of another fluid are put into the arm a< intervals of one week. In about two months after the child has received these treatments he Is protected against Sdiphtheria probably for life
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