The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-05-25
WHO HAS PNEUMONIA GERMS? M ,;

WHO HAS PNEUMONIA GERMS? 1 have argued, writes girl, that c "cold," or cri If you wish r IL is immatsrial to me. Call it what you pieasc. l have tried t0 make you understand what CIT means, Makes no difference to my health what you choose to call that A "coId" or crl if you wish, is not caused by expos- iiro 10 the elements, but B due to german infection alone, and my arguments arc based on the tonch' | ings fin your column. others cons tended that pneumonia is generally preceded by q "e0id" or the hu. That is, that ono is more likely to fall victim to pneumonia # al. ready in the grip of n respiratory infection. 1 do not know whethcr or not this is true md ! would ilko Co Do enlightened. M. To
 Nor does anybody else know whethor thsro Is any truth Tn the idea that some less dangerous ros spiratory tract ailment rcndcrs tho individual more Busceptlble 70 pneumonia, or whether ,nc Wi- mary indifposition or illness " from the very beginning the mnni' fostntion of tho same infection tnat culmInates in inflammation or tho lung, No one has found a specific germ or virus for "the common cold" no one has determined q specific cause for what is com nioniy called "fu."
 Same physicinns attempt to bolster up the old theory Of "tak. ing cold" by assuming that most persons constantly hnrbor Tn nose and throat whatever disense germs | the exigency requires, ana tnus explain any illness or indisposition thnt may happen to follow renl or fancied chilling of exposure 70 wet or cold. But in fact there ls no ground for the assumption. "Carriers" Of diphtheria, for in' stance, may Do menace to non immune individuals; and though , we do not know, wc have reason to believe that "carrlers" Of cpl. demic meningitis and "carriers' Of tho virus of poliamyeIitis unfantile fnrlysis) may be the source of in' lection in some instances. But note that these "carrierH" af7 them selves immune to the disdase they carry. So far ns I can learn there is no proof that any person ever harbors in nose or throat the germs of any known respiratory infection unless the carrier him self is coming down with tho dls' ease or Ill of 1t or not yet fuIly recovered from an attack.
 The Pneumococci which are found in nose or throat of large proportion of the population are not of the virulent type, according in recent investigation, and so we
 n,ist admit that the plausible An. sumption Is an error.
 I do not wish to deny that under particular circumstances the harm. less strain of Pncumococci com monly found in nose or throat may develop virulence sufficient to cause acute coryzn, tonslllitis. aulnsy or evcn bronchitis or pneu- monla--in second person: but I do insist, and without fear Of com potent contradiction, that we have no scientific evidence that. the germs of virus the individual hsr- bors ever cause such Illness of the indiviGuai himself.
 Even if my contention be sub feet to occasional exceptions. ! will maintain that this possibility is insignificant and need not worry the iayman at all. The important factor to hear in mind Is that t0 the best of our present knowledge practically every putntive "cold" or cri, as I wish you would learn to cali it, Is directly due to spray or droplet infection. either open face cough or sneeze spray, which carries as far as ten or twelve feat, or polite conversation spray which carries lonB than Ave feet.
 QUESTION an0 ANSWERS. Nhid 0Isn 0Fnin fO ltie Hlui [ hnse c nllsf Dpif'c Of nsetIlrlne