Evening star., 1941-09-29
BY HOWARD w. BLAKEsLEE.

than the cost of war, the common
cold can be wiped out in the United
States.
Experiments at Evanston, Ill,
Notre Dame University and Ger
mantown and Swarthmore. Pa,
show that this can be done by puri-
flying the indoor air. =
Probably nothing short of national
public health measures can do the
job, since virtually all indoor air
appears involved in spreading colds.
But the evidence that prevention
now is possible appeared in a series
OF exhibits shown here by the Ameri-
can Medical Association.
One exhibit, prepared by the
Cradle, famous nursery for infants
at Evanston, gave the results of cold
prevention in three different types
of quarters.
All three were conditioned.
Two had additional safeguards. One
was fitted with overhead ultra violet
lights, indirect, so that the babies
could not see them, but set to destroy
infections floating in the air.
Another was protected by an in
Ventlon of Prof. James A. Reyniers
OF Notre Dame. He designed a series
OF cubicleS, each large enough to ac-
commodate an infant, and to permit
nurses to care for it without entering
the space. The nurses reach in
through small window to feed and
handle the babies.
These cubicleS are filled with
poSltlve-presSure air. The pressure
inside each one is slightly greater
than outside, so when a work WIN
COW is opened, air blows out from
the babyS space, and never in from
the other indoor air. All the cubicle
air comes directly from outside, and
Is warmed. 1t carries only the in
fectlons, if any, floating in outdoor
air
In an epidemic at the Cradle u
nurses came down simultaneously
with common colds. That was too
many for the usual rule of sending
home nurses with colds. All re-
mained on duty.
In the room having only air-con-
dltlonlng every baby except one
promptly caught cold. In the room
with the ultraviolet lights and in
the Reyniers cubicles not one baby
had a cold.
Evidence on Two Points.
This outbreak furnishes good evi-
dence on two points: One, that
indoor air can be purified sufficiently
to prevent spread of colds. Two,
that outdoor air does not circulate
colds. Outdoor air is polluted with
infection by common cold sufferers,
but the infection appears to be
diluted rapidly below the danger
point.
The air itself evidently carried
the colds to the babies in the air
conditioned unit. That is, the colds
probably were not transmitted by
contact, food or water, for this
work of the infected nurses was the
same in all three units.
The evidence that it does little
or no good to purify the indoor air
only IN some rooms comes from
Germantown and Swarthmore. In
the Germantown Friends School,
for four years, and at Swarthmore,
for one year, ultra violet lights have
been used to prevent infectious dis
eases in some of the rooms.
These two sets of experiments
were conducted by Drs. F. w. and
M. A. Wells, pioneers in advocating
air control for certain epidemics.
This year, in both towns, in the
violet rooms the worst epi-
demic of measles on record in Phila-
delphia was stopped among the
children.
Previously, in Germantown, an
earlier epidemic of measles was
avoided by children in the ultra-vio-
let light schoolrooms, and out
breaks of mumps and chickenpox
were similarly controlled.
No Apparent Effect on Colds.
But at no time, in any of the
rooms in either town, did the lights
have any apparent effect on COM
mon colds. The lights were the
same as those used at the Cradle.
1t appeared that protection against
common colds during school hours
alone is not sufficient and that "a
hour air protection is necessary.
Aside from, the great expense of
protecting a nation, there are prob
lens of eye safety when using the
ultraviolet lights. At the Cradle
the nurses could look up at the
lights, and it was necessary for
them to wear dark glasses as a pro-
lection. But after the first year,
when curiosity no longer impelled
them to look upward, they discard
ed the glasses and have had no eye
trouble.
Experiments have been made with
ultraviolet lights placed in the