Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1946-02-09

The reason we started on TINS
detective hunt makes an inter-
esting story which you might like
20 hear.
Pupils in one of our schools re-
Gently had physical examinations,
which included tubercplin tests.
The test is given by injecting
drop of harmless liquid in the
arm or placing specially treat
ed patch on the arm. About two
days later, the doctor examines
The chiId's arm. If it looks just as
it did before the test, We say the
child has negative reaction,
meaning there are no tuberculo-
sis germs in his body. If the place
on his arm where the test was
given has become swollen and
slightly hard, he. has a positive
reaction" That means that some
where in his body are TB germs.
One little fellow in the first
grade reactive positively TO the
test. This showed that he had
been around someone who had tu-
berculosis and who had given the
germs TO him. People catch the
| disease from someone who has
it has and splits or coughs up the
germs.
LUNGS X-RAYED
The best and easiest way to
find out whether a person has
tuberculosis is to take an X-ray
picture of his lungs. So, we sent
Johnny to the clinic and had his
lungs X-rayed. When the picture
was developed, it showed that the
boys lungs were prefectly healthy
Although Johnny had been around
someone with the disease. HI!
healthy body had fought the
germs and kept them from get
ting into his lungs and making
him i'll. 1t waS a narrow escape fol
Johnny, however and must no
happen again.
1t was important to find the
person who had the germ before
other people get sick. He might
not even know that he had tu-
berculosiS. People do not Away!
know they have tuberculosis a
first because the disease does no.
make them feel bad in the begin
ming. Often it is months before
the disease does so much damage
to the lung that a person begin!
10 feel really i'll.
PARENTS SUMMONED
We sent a note to Johnny''
mother and father and asked
them to come to the clinic, bring
ing their other children, TO hav,
X-ray pictures taken of theil
chests. They gladly came anc
were X-rayed The pictures SHOW
&c their lungs were healthy, too
so they were not spreading thu
! disease.
We mad checked all or johnny
immediate family and still haC
not found where he had picked III
the germs. No one else in hi
class at school had a positive re
action. so he had not got thu
germs from his school friends
Where had he got them? We hac
TO keep searching.
Late Johnny told me that if hi
mother had to go out he wen
next door after school and TIT
lady there gave him lunch, which
gave us another clue. We visited
the neighbor who loked well, bu
to be on the safe side, we asked
her, too. to have her lungs x-ray
ed.
CRIMINAL FOUND
AS soon as we saw the pictur,
of her lungs, We knew our search
was ended. Her lungs were di'
seased. We now knew where
Johnny had got the germs.
Our job was not ended, however
We explained to the neighobl
that she had tuberculosis, a Serl
Gus disease, and for her own sake
and for the sake of the people
around her she should go to 6
hospital for treatment. If it hae
not been for Johnny's tuberculir
test and our search for a germ
she might have died.
This article is co-SponSOred by
4 the National Medical association
and the National tuberculosis as
ISOLATION in the interest of better
health of the people.)