Evening star., 1939-04-17

stages Of the disease. And, Of
course, there is the all-important
point that by such segregation, the
chtld has had far less opportunity
to pass the illness along to his fel-
lows.
1t is the careless mother, pri-
marily. who Is much to blame for
the spread of children's diseases.
She 1t is who supposedly sees the
child the last thing at night and
the f1rst thing in the morning before
he goes to school. The responsibility
rests with her to observe his physical
condition and to take immediate ac-
ton II any suspicious symptoms are
present. A snarly disposition may
just mean an upset tummy from
too much candy-but it can also be
the advance herald of any number
OF infantile ills, and, as such, should
never be disregarded until period
Of observation has ruled out all
other possibilities.
Nurse May Be
At Fault.
In a large, well-to-do household,
where the children are looked after
by a nursemaid or governess, the
control Is usually in her hands. But
she should be the sort Of person who
feels the responsibility as keenly as
should the mother-and thus the
same rules will apply to her treat
ment OF the child morning and eve
ming. If 1t is delegated to her to
send the child to school or to keep
him at home. according to her best
judgment, then she should keep
faith with her employers and young
charges implicitly in the matter.
Teachers are usually on the alert
for any signs of illness, and will
pack an ailing youngster of home
at the first real sign of trouble. But
there again, they may be too late
the damage to the rest of the class
room has been done, and the cpl
demic started on its wild-flre way
An hour In close contact with his
fellows gives any infected child
plenty of opportunity to pass his
germs along!
Therefore, once again, it goes
back straight to the door of the
person who gets the child up, feeds
him, and sends him of to school or
play IN the early morning. The re-
sponsibility for his health and that
of others is so directly theirs that
1t should not for one moment be for
gotten.
Wait Awhile for
Developments.
If the youngster seems out of
sorts, growly, little flushed, take
his temperature. Even If he hasn't
any, let him stay In bed for break
fast, and feed him very lightly.
Later, take his temperature again.
Watch for nausea, for complaints of
sore throat, of running eyes, or
headache or pain in the eyes. Listen
for sneezes and coughs. Keep a
sharp eye for earache-and some
times very young children confuse a
pain In the stomach with one in the
ear. SO don't be fooled by that. Il
know. 1t fooled me once with one
OF my offspring, and I've never for
gotten it, Make the Thermometer
your friend and guide, and at the
first sign Of trouble on it call the
doctor.
II there Is nothing wrong after all
no great harm has been done. The
child will have had rest, which is
probably what he needed, anyway,
and he will go back to school safe in
his own health and that of others.
He'll do better work for the little
layoff. And no unnecessary risks
will have been taken.
But If the hours bring decisive
symptoms and the battle is on
think how much has been done for
the good of everybody! He has
wasted no strength, minimized the
danger of developing serious COM
plications and, above all, has not
exposed his friends to the disease.
OF course, very occasionally some
spread of infection may have been
accomplished before the slightest
symptom developed. That is very
unusual, however, and is one of the
things that no one can prevent
But as a rule there are plenty of
danger signs" If only mother will
stop, look, listen-and heed them!