Evening star., 1927-12-11
CHILD SANATOR|UM
HELD URGENT NEED
Or. Fowler Says D. C. Should
Have Home for Tuber-
CuIosiS Victims.

Taking advantage of the annual sale
Of Christmas Health Seals now in
progress for the support Of the
various health ohjectives Of the WASH
ington tuberculosis Association, DR.
William c. Fowler. health officer of
the District, yesterday voiced the need
OF a year-round sanatorium for tuber-
cular children in this city.
"since prevention is the goal OF the
organized campaign TO bring tuner-
culosis under control" said Dr.
Fowler. "our tuberculosis Assoclatioi
is justified in seeking as one OF 's
main detectives the creation ol
suitable year.round sanatorlum ioi
the sdeouate care of children who arc
known or suspected to he suhellI,N
from tuberculous infection The eslan
lishment of such an institution Wai,
,lpon the appropriatiOn of pubic tuho'
for that purpose
Cares for Children.
'Tbe Tuberculosis Health Chnc
which is under the Health Depart
ment is constantly brought in touch
with children from the public schooIS'
or from tuberculous homes, Whlch
children are found upon investigation
to be in need of medical SUPERVISION
nursing care and regular treatment
The best the District has TO oHeF "
the parents of such children Al th'
present time is the two HeaIlf
Schools. one for white and one fol
colored students. The children attend
ing these schools have been excluded
own sake and that of their associates
The ordinary grades have no facI'
tiles for giving such children the care
and treatment that they require. They
need abundant rest, medical super
vision. and special nursing care anc
attention. The Health School can give
these only I'm part. for like other
schools it is conducted on a 5-hou
daily basis tor only five days a week
To these special schools many chill
dren have 10 come long distances anC
return to home conditions that ofter
do not offer the facilities that sana-
trium would provide.
The Childrcn's Health Camp, con-
Quoted by the tuberculosis AssoC:a-
tion for several Summers. has taken
such children and given them 24-hour
care fer ? period Of three months or
thereahouts. As a director of this as.
sociation ! am familiar with the work
of the camp. The Improvement shown
IN MANY Of the camp children has
been marked. Some Of them at the
beginning Of tho season are under
nourished. running temperatures and
are really sick children With rest.
good food. nursing care and medical
supervision the children show marked
progress and some are awarded re-
covery cards. which entitle them TO
enter once more the regular classes
of the public school
Medical Inspection.
mot only does the Health DEPART
ment come in contact with these chill
dren through the tuberculosis Clinic,
but ii also is charged with the medical
inspection Of the children i'm the pub
lie schools. II is as a result of such
inspection that many eases of tuber-
culous infection among the children
are discovered. Washing ton is one of
the cities that has neither a sana-
torium for cases Of children suffering
from active tuberculosis nor pre-
ventorium for those children who, |
because Of weakened physical condi- |
tion. are particularly liable TO develop
tuberculosis when exposed TO that
disease in their own homes. These
are what may be called contact
cases. Every one of them so exposed
should be examined carefully to de-
termine if the exposure has resulted
in active infection. If so, either sara
torium or preventorium care should
be provided
Some of the striking results OBJ
tanned in this health camp during the
past Summer are summarized in the
report of its superintendent, Mrs
Margaret Hilleary. This report showed
that all the children cared for made
some gain in weight and general con-
dition and IL of the group numbering
about so were awarded recovery cards
which entitled them to readmission to
the regular schools. One boy made
a gain in weight of 1919 pounds. and
the average gain for the entire camp
was SOC pounds. Twenty-three of
the children made an average gain of
z pounds each. These remarkable
results are credited TO the simple
regime of the. camp involving regular
periods of rest in the open air, super
vised play and occupations, direct ex-
posture TO the sunlight, or what is
known as heliotherapy and a generous
allowance of good food in which fruits
green vegetables and pasteurized milk
are provided. Regular examinations
of these children were provided by
the medical staff of the tuberculosis
Hospital and physical defects were
corrected in all cases with the consent
and cooperation of the parents.
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