The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1943-11-05

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his column.
sWerIug 1t on my own response
bt.ity, Because 10 IS one of the
great facts Of life.
Immunity to most contagious
diseases is dissolved in a fluid mix
ture. 1t is in the mothers blood
and while she IS carrying her baby,
II seeps into me baby's blood.
Therefore, a baby up to about
year old is Just as much protected
as an adult. But the immunity
wears out. And then comes the
period Of measles, humps, wnoop-
ing cough and scarlet fever. After
the immunity acquired from the
mother IS gone, it taxes very little
exposure TO cause eontagion.
Measles Most Contagious Disease
Measles is the most contagious
disease on earth. Apparently ju t
wind blowing from an meet, d
person to non-lnfected person
II enough. Scarlet fever is the
least contagious Of all the child
hood diseases. II you want to
prove this, take a class Of children
about ten and ask every one who
has had measles TO raise the hand.
Practically every one Will go un.
Then ask for scarlet fever cases.
Only about tye out of twenty Will
60 up.
am not in favor Of protecting
children from measles. At about,
the age of four. if he hasn't had it
yet, ] would take a youngster for
an afternoon to play with a full
blown case. But | would go out
OF my way to protect him. We saw
too many serious cases and deaths
In the Army. A lot Of the boys had
been raised on farms, had never
associated closely with others, and
they came down by the droves with
measles. And they had ali the
complications that kids at home
seldom have-ear infection, pneu-
monia and everything you can
think Of. Our death rate was
higher than from any other dis.
ease, counting the pneumonia sec
ondary to measles, as measles.
Compared to measles, scarlet
fever is hardly contagious at all.
And besides it has been growing
less malignant in the past 20 years.
Fifty years ago scarlet fever
charts were horror to look at,
but now it is little more than a
bad case of hives. There are ex-
ceptions, Of course. and | would
always treat it with respect, but
by and large, that statement holds.
Serious Diseases
Never treat humps and whoop.
ing cough with contempt They are
serious diseases and should so be
regarded. Mumps may make boy
sterile for life and whooping
cough may go into the worst form
Of pneumonia.
One thing about all these dis
eases--if you have them in child
hood, you are all over them. They
never return. There is only one
exception - whooping cough. II
Little Elmer has bad cough and
grandpa has a bad cough too, the
chances are grandpa has whooping
cough.
We have no artificial immunity
TO use in the form of injections for
measles and mumps. And our i'm
munity serum to scarlet fever and
wnooping cough is not sufficiently
good that | would care to recon-
mend II very strongly.
So stick to my idea Of getting
them all naturally when you are
young and your juices are strong.
But mothers should not treat
them lightly. They are all serious
and require the most careful nurs-
ing. Nothing is Just a case Of
measles.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
A. C.:-Haye been run down
very nervous, loud roaring in head.
and laryngitis. Went to a laryn-
gifts specialist who couldn't find
anything. Have an ovarian tumor
the doctor thinks should come out.
VIII this do any good, and is it
dangerous?
Answer: You are probably go
ing through change Of life. The
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