The Coolidge examiner., 1935-02-15

49, - -a--- ~ 49, seven years end
ing in 1881, there
were approximately 1000 deaths
from whooping cough In the state
lof Illinois. or an average of about
I 2Sj year. During 1881 and part OF
1882, l9,000 cases were reported to
1 the Illinois health department by
physicians of the state.
Ninety per cent OF the deaths oc-
cur In children under three years
of age. The largest number of
deaths occur In the second half OF
the first year.
Girls are more susceptible to
whooping cough than boys are. 1t
is the only communicable disease of
childhood in which there is this sex
distinction.
Death rates are higher In the ru-
raj districts than In the cities. and
the disease is more severe In colder
climates than In warm zones.
While few deaths occur past six
years of age. anyone may get
whooping cough. Parents, II they
have not had II before, sometimes
get II from their children. But when
one has had case of this disease,
one is usually immune from n sec
ond attack.
So far as known, monkeys are
the only animals besides man that
can contract whooplng cough. This
is one reason why II has been diff
cult for psychologists to expert
ment with this disease. as monkeys
are scarce and expensive. Indeed.
the papers reported recently the
plight OF a Cleveland doctor who
Is trying TO find the cause of the
distinctive whoop. He had secured
/ four chImpanzees at cost OF $3.50
each He gave the disease TO two
OF the animals. but kept the other
two isolated for a later experiment.
But In some way these two also
I got 1t, and he is unable to give any
one Of the four a second attack. So
he has 20 get n new lot of chin
panzees before he can continue his
work.
Whooplng cough Is transmitted
/ from person 10 person In secretions
OF the mouth and nose. and by kiss
Ing and by close contact. II is not
contagious during the period of in
cuhation, which is from two to three
weeks-usually fourteen to sixteen
l days. but II can be transmitted from
! the appearance of the first symp-
tom. and 1t Is most contagious dur
/ Ing the early stage before the whoop
/ develops. II may also be commu-
nicated In the early stages.
We have not discovered any vac
cine for II yet, either for its pre-
/ vention or its cure, as we have for
\ diphtheria. But in 1906 two Bel
gian scientists. Gengou and the fa-
nous Bordet, discovered the bac-
terra that cause whOoping cough.
These bacteria we find far down In
the bronchial tubes, however, and
for a number of years doctors tried
out various methods OF raising bac-
terra TO the surface, but with many
patients they were not successful in
doing so. Then ten years later, two
German scientists, ChievitZ and
Meyer, invented a cough plate.
which was perfected by a Danish
scientist, Madsen. This is shallow
tin box. with a cover. the size Of
the palm of the hand, in which a
special media Is put. The pan IS
held before the mouth OF the cough
Ing child. Then the cover Is put
on and the box sent to laboratory
TO find out II the whooping cough
germ is present.
The reason It Is advisable to
have this test made is because some
nervous children develop cough
that resembles whooping cough, ana
vet isn't, and 1t would be hardship
to isolate them from other chill
dren. And In the first stages Of
whoopIng cough the cough does not
differ So much from the cough OF a
severe bronchial cold.
The point is that II a child has
become exposed to whOoping cough.
and then develops cold, that child
should be suspected Of having some
thing more than cold that will
yield to home remedies. physician
should be called at once and the
culture made. IF the culture is posi-
tive, then the child should be kept
away from other children.
There is a strong ray of hope,
though, in the whooping cough sit
uation. Several doctors here and
abroad, who are devoting much time
to whooping cough, have made very
promising progress in their develop
ment of a vaccine for its prevention
and a serum for its cure.
They have been quite successful
in their treatment Of a number o.
patients. But their treatment has
not quite reached the stage where
1t can have the universal applica-
ton that the diphtheria vaceines
have.
G. Western Newspaper Union