Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-07-19
D|PHTHER|A IS
CAUSING DEATH:
WARNS PARENTS
County Health Department
Issues Statement Urging
Prompt Reporting Of Dis
ease, and Vaccination.

Four deaths from diphtherif
have occurred in and near Alou'
ouerque in the past few days. The
county health department yester
day issued the following statement
so that parents may exercise
proper care;
Diphtheria continues to prevail
in and around Albuquerque. III
spite of all efforts to control pa
tients and contacts, cases are
showing up every few days. The
history of most of these cases re-
veals a contact with other cases
usually before families had thought
the disease serious enough to cal
in medical assistance or to exclude
visitors.
A great many people are in
clined to look upon diphtheria in
its early stages as a harmless con-
dition, and will resent any effort
of the health department to tell
them otherwise; they will conceal
the whereabouts Of cases until,
through fright. they call in their
family physician. Within the last
few days, four deaths have been
recorded, and in each of these
cases the family has delayed seek
ing medical attention, until a late
stage, when heroic doses of anti
toxin are useless.
1t is hard task to reach people
who are not only ignorant of con-
4 hut no oil c
careless in preventing the spread
to others. A case of suspicious
throat disease was reported to the
health department yesterday by a
neighbor. Investigation Of this
timely act showed a virulent case
of diphtheria and that nineteen
children were and had been in
contact with the case, which was
Immediately quarantined and con-
facts immunized.
There are too many cases oc-
curing in families who are known
as drifters, a type Of people who
are continually moving from town
to town, working in one town long
enough to move to the next. They
have absolutely no home life and
are eternally sick and broke.
Paralysis Is Frequent.
According to late statistics, par
alysis follows diphtheria in 10 to
Is per cent of the cases. and is
responsible for most of the sudden
deaths that occur during and just
after apparently mild diphtheria
The poison of diphtheria is one of
the most treacherous of all con-
tagious diseases and the outward
symptoms are absolutely no indi-
cation Of the damage that is going
on inside the body. An infected
heart muscle, small clot in the
lungs or brain will quite frequently
cause a child to drop dead while
sitting at the dining table or walk
ing across the room, long after the
throat and all visible symptoms
have cleared up and the patient
presumed to have recovered.
Diptheria is a disease that re-
quires the attention Of a medical
man, and his instructions should
be carried out faithfully, irrespec-
tice of what you or kindly feeling
neighbors may think about the
course Of the disease. There is nc
such thing as mild case of diph.
liberia. 1t is either diphtheria OF
1t is not. A swab from the throat
examined at laboratory, will re.
veal within ~ hours the presence
of diphtheria or not. If it is diph.
liberia, it is dangerous and the
course and result depend entirely
on how soon you call q physician
and how soon anti-toxin is ad.
ministered. Diphtheria is one OF
four diseases for which a vaccine,
ton is available. In other words
people do not have to have diph.
iberia unless they particularly de.
sire it.
Talk this over with your phys.
ician and have your children vac,
cinated. It's whole lot better t.
be safe than sorry; this apple.
particularly to diphtheria.