The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1940-11-14
Whoopine Cough

Whooping cough, or pertusis, is
one of our greatest cause of death
with infants and small children. Many
people feel that %whooping cough is a
mild disease or something that all
children are going to have regard
less of what is done and that there
is no need to do much about it. Be
! cause of its great danger to small
children, it is well that we give this
disease some definite consideration.
Of course, complications, as bron-
chial pneumonia in the cooler months
and castro intestinal complications
in the Summer months, are the great
est causes of death.
! There is no natural immunity to
cough; all are suspectible.
The greatest incidence apparently is
between six months and five years
Of age. Very few cases occur during
the first few months of life. The
largest number of deaths occur be-
tween the ages of one and one-half
and two years of age.
1t is about seven to ten days be-
tween the time of contact and when
the symptoms are first noted. The
7 disease may be divided into three
stages. First, Catarrhal, or cold
stage. Second: Paraxysmal, or the
whooping stage. Third; The decline
stage. The disease is more contagious
during the time when the patient
seems to have nothing but a cold.
This is another reason why children
with a cold should be kept away from
school.
The death rate is highest among
the rural and Negro population. This
is very largely due to the indiffer-
ence toward the disease and self
medication that many people use for
whooping cough. The death rate with
females is higher during all ages
thar with the male. This is because
of the difference in the anatomical
structure of the upper respiratory
passages which becomes ven more
marked after pubrty.
The average number of school days
lost per case is about twenty-six
! which almost equals the figures of
all other respiratory diseases com
bined.
Schools need not be closed on the
account of w%hooping cough, but UNI
less proper precautions are taken the
whoops of the large number of chill
dren in school at one time may cause
| conditions to be such that the school
had as we'll be closed, but if children
that are exposed are kept away from
school at least fourteen days at the
time of their last exposure to an &C
tive case and all children with sus-
picious symptoms as a cold are kept
away from school, we find that whoop
ing cough need not be a great bother
to the schools.
What can we do to decrease the
deaths from w%hooping cough and to
prevent the severity of the disease?
First, Keep all small children away
from people with the disease. Sec
.ond, Have your child immunized ag-
ainst the disease by carrying it to
your regular physician and have him
vaccinate your child before it is ex-
posed to the disease. It has been de-
.finitely proven that the Sauer vaccine
will prevent many cases and will
cause the other few cases to be very
mild. Third, Vaccination after ex-
posure definitely does good, but for
the greatest protection it is advisable
that they be immunized before they
are in contact with the actual dis
ease.
There is no such thing as a healthy |
carrier of whipping cough germs, but
many mild cases, particularly in the
adult, spread the disease.
Yours very sincerely,
L. III. EUBANKS, M. D.
Director Holmes County
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