The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-01-25

| few months ago the correspondents niece had typhoid fever. The health department sent l a representative to investigate the family his- tory. It appeared the correspondents mother
 had had typhoid fever eighteen years ago. The
 present patient had lived in the same apart
 ment house but not the same apartment with 1 the mother. The health department required
 everybody in the house to submit specimens
 for bacteriological examination, and discovered
 that the mother was typhoid carrier-that is | although in good health she was giving off ty
 phoid bacilli through the alimentary tract. Now this typhoid carrier cannot understand
 how she bore and raised five children of her | own that have never contracted typhoid fever 1 yet her neice contracted it from presumably | less intimate and less frequent contact with
 Well, that does seem odd It may be that
 the elimination of the typhoid germs is not | constant, but intermittent, or perhaps it has | only recently commenced and the niece just
 happened to be the first susceptible victim. Not every is susceptible to typhoid in- | lection. Probably some individuals enjoy more
 or less natural immunity: Of course many in- l dividuals to-day take the slight trouble to be
 actively immunzed against typhoid But it is
 quite conceivable that any children born to
 this mother since her attack of typhoid may
 have inherited from her a degree of her own | acquired immunity. The correspondent does
 not mention the ages of the children. The health department keeps after the car-
 rier She is required to m out % ption paper each
 taning to her activities. She is plainly warned
 hat If sht refuses to answer the questions or
 answers them unsatisfactory she will be
 capped into the hospital under surveillance
 She is instructed not to cook or handle food | for anybody but herself, and she must wash all her own dishes separately. She cannot see why | she must fill the paper out every month, as she lives in her own house and has no intention of leaving it. She says she feels like criminal who has committed some terrible crime and is being watched constantly.
 All of these restrictions absolutely ne cessary to protect public health. The health de-
 partment is entitled to much credit for detect- | ing and keeping watch on this carrie. Of course she didn't know and dint want to be- hut fI all typhoid carriers It is rather an indulgence that such a carrier is permitted to retain any liberty at all. In appreciation of such indulg- gence on the part of the public health authori- ties. the carrier should fill out the regular re- port and obey the reasonable instructions with l out complaint Suppose she had leprosy-in that case her plight might be much worse, yet | it would be inexorable.
 In the typhoid carrier state has been successfully corrected by cholecystectomy I-emoval of the gal-sac, which is superfiu- ous organ anyway.
 | Many of the outbreaks of typhoid fever now- ldays traceable to unsuspected carriers. In numerous instances the interval since the rier's attack of typhoid fever has proved much longer than IS years, as long as 40 years in one case.
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS How Tuberculosis Spreads Girl with active tuberculosis insists kiss ing our kids. Her mother is unreasonable and
 the girl is more She is fevcrish and coughs
 constantly. (Mrs L. Al
 port the circumstances to your local health off, fcer. Some of the kids will in all probability contract the disease, and hence all of them ought to be carefully examined and re-exam- ned at intervals for the next two years. What. No Kick? Tn 1920 my application for insurance was declined by one of the old line companies be-
 cause my patellar reflex was absent. have never considered this serious, because they tell me my pupil reflex is normal. Docs the absence of the patear reflex indicate sy sSbpilis? e. Al
 Answer-No. It has no definite significance Oh, Ladies, Ladies Please answer this to settle serious argu.
 ment among Q number of ladies. Is 1t possible for a woman whose mcnOpause occurred 16 months ago to conceive and bear child? (M. Go
 Answer-Anything is possible except a
 mouses nest in a cats ear. But woman who | has passed her menopause is not likely to bear any more children.