The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1931-09-10
TEACHERS IMPORTANCE in
HEALTH WORK EXPLAINED
Health Officer Addresses County
Instructors at Meeting in Oak
land High School
TO BEGIN EXAMINATIONS

The Importance of the school teach
er in public health work was told by
DR.. George E. Clarke, public health
officer, at meeting of the county
teachers, held last Friday at the Oak
land High school.
His address is given below:
Health departments had their in
ception in the fear of pestilential dis
eases. AS far back as the 18th and
18th centuries governments estab-
lished boards of health to segregate
or quarantine large groups of people
to prevent the spread of yellow fever,
smallpox, and typhus fever. Out of
this fear has evolved the departments
of today which have to do, not only
with the control of the spread of con-
tagious disease, but with the. pre-
vention of diseases and the correction
of conditions which are the predis-
posing causes of disease.
"You, as teachers, are vitality in
terested in the control of contagious
diseases. The accomplishment of eff
fective public health work depends
largely upon the use of information
obtained from the notification of cas-
es of preventable diseases. The
health department is able to control
diseases in proportion to the complete
ness and exactness of its knowledge
of the occurrence of cases of disease.
"The health of the children Of
school age is so necessary to success
in school that it has been for years
the concern of school authorities.
"The Importance of the teacher in
school health work has been generally
overlooked. Yet your position is
filled with potentialities for good in
school health work. In the first
place no one is brought into such
close association with the class men,
bers as the school teacher and none
by precept or example can exert so
lasting an influence upon their mental
and physical evolution. Your sphere
of usefulness can therefore be great
ly increased by good working know
ledge of the laws of health, the pre-
vention of disease, school hygiene and
by being familiar with the more ordi-
nary manifestations of contagious
diseases that l want to call your at
tention today. The infectious diseases
of childhood are important not only
because the ensuing mortality is
greater than is popularity supposed,
but because they may predispose Of
other diseases such as tuberculosis
and some may result in permanent
disabilities.
"The schoolroom is place favor
able to their spread. The necessity
is obvious for their detection in the
school and the exclusion of the chill
dren attacked until all danger of
transmitting the disease to others is
past. The teacher therefore should
be familiar with the symptoms Of the
onset of these diseases.
GAS soon as possible after Septem-
Der 8 we will visit each school, make
physical examination of each pupil,
vaccinate and inoculate as many as
possible.
"There is no question that VAGINA
ton is the most efficient safeguard
against smallpox. incubation with
toxin-antitoxin is equally effective
against diphtheria. Were everyone
protected against these two diseases
they would cease to exist. In diph-
liberia the death rate is greater in the
pre-school children, so when you send
permits home to be signed by the par
ents, urge them to bring all their
children over nine months to the
school to be inoculated and vaccinated.
The date of our visits to your school
| will be given IN sufnclent Time Tor
you to notify the parents.
at is plain from what 1 have said
that we are increasing the require
ments of profession which is already
loaded to capacity with work. But,
especially in the rural schools where
| the school is the usual center of cul-
ture and information and the infuen-
ce of the teacher extensible to the
home, the results Of the general en-
try of teachers as electives in the
army of health crusaders are certain
to be of the happiest order so far as
the community is concerned and will
reflect upon you Individually and up
on your profession"