The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-07-03

ual holiday quota Of drownings.
But the fireworks record is
something to celebrate. 1t shows
once more that the world does
move, no matter how slowly it
seems TO be doing it to the fellow
who is interested in immediate
progress. 1t also proves the effec-
tiveness of public propaganda so
long as its cause is right and the
pressure is unrelentingly kept up.
The propaganda which result
ed in the l943 record has been Of
two kinds. One was the campaign
of the American Medical Associa-
ton against tetanus, or lockjaw,
as a result Of Fourth of July in
juries and the other was against
the use Of fireworks at all.
do not believe the American
Medical Association had any hope
40 years ago that they could abol-
ish fireworks and toy cannons and
all the rest Of the paraphernalia
of injury which signalized the Joy
at our separation from England
which characterized the scenes of
my boyhood, but even that has
been very largely accomplished.
Antitetanus Campaign
About the antitetanus cam
paign, we have definite figures. 1t
was in 1903 that the Journal of
the American Medical Association
began a vigorous crusading to de-
mand the immediate use Of anti
tetanus serum due to the explo-
sion Of firearms, cannons, fire.
crackers, etc. The emphasis was
placed or the fact that any wound
which had the slightest chance of
being contaminated with street or
ground dirt is potentially liable to
result in lockjaw and the only way
TO prevent it is to give antitetanus
serum promptly.
Here is the result Of this project
of public education:
In 1903 there were 4,449 injur-
les and 400 deaths from tetanus.
In 1904 there were 4,169 injur-
les and 81 deaths from tetanus.
There was not much change in
the record until 1909 when there
was a jump to 5,3o7 injuries and
125 deaths from tetanus. This
CHASTITY toll stimulated both the
antitetanus and anti fireworks
campaign so that:
In 1914 there were 1906 injur-
les and 3 deaths from tetanus.
Since then the improvement has
been steady until, as recorded in
the opening sentence Of this ar
ticle, we have in 1943 no deaths
from fireworks injuries either
caused by tetanus or otherwise.
Of course part of this good re-
suit so far as tetanus is concerned
is due to the disappearance Of the
horse from our streets. The tetan-
US bacillus thrives in the intes-
tines of herbirorous animals and
street dirt was naturally more
heavily contaminated in 1903
than now.
Still very recent study Of the
occurrence Of tetanus spores on
the streets and pavements of Bal
tlmore showed that II per cent Of
the cultures were positive. And
no fair-minded person with a
memory as long as mine of the
glorious Fourths Of the gay nine
ties down to the recent past can
deny that the good results of last
year are largely due to the safe
and sane Fourth" slogan.
What will happen this year Is
a matter Of hope rather than pre-
diction. The only way to preserve
the gains of a successful cam
paign is to keep up with the good
methods. If by any chance any
body in your family is injured this
Fourth by gunshot wound or fire.
cracker or fireworks Of any kind
insist on having a doctor in an
emergency rush and insist that q
prophylactic injection of 1900
units of antitetanus serum be
given. The only exception to this
is If previous immunizing dose
has been given. In that case severe
allergic reactions are likely TO
follow the use Of the prophylactic
antitetanus serum.