OCR Text |
Show PHYSICIANS WARN ON SYMPTOMS OF RHEUMATIC FEVER Health officers reported 542 resident cases of notifiable diseases dis-eases to the state department of health for the week ending May 7, 1948. Last week there were 512 cases reported and 279 for the corresponding cor-responding week in 1947. Measles, for the fourth consecutive consecu-tive week, heads the list of all reportable re-portable diseases with 306 cases. For the previous week, there were 301 cases and only seven for the corresponding week in 1947. Since the first of the year, 1,131 cases of 1 measles have been reported, which amounts to a minor epidemic epi-demic .when compared with the1 yearly median of 6,038 cases for the five years, 1941 to 1945. -Twelve cases of rheumatic fever were reported during the week three from Brigham City, two each from Utah county, Provo City, and Weber county, and three from Ogden. Rheumatic fever is a disease of childhood, but may occur during adult life. Most of the cases occur oc-cur in children seven and eight years of age. Although the cause of rheumatic fever is unknown, it is commonly found that many of the cases first become manifest shortly after upper respiratory infections, in-fections, such as "septic sore throat." Rheumatic fever is a very serious seri-ous infection which kills more rapid pulse, and pain (may be vague and fleeting) in joints and the muscles. Somewhat later, St. Vitus' dance (chorea) may occur and frequently pain and swelling of one joint and then another. Whenever a child develops any of these signs or symptoms, a doctor should be consulted at once. school-age children in the United States than any other disease. The large number of deaths caused by this disease should suggest the size of the entire rheumatic fever problem. Anything that undermines under-mines the child's general health, such as inadequate food and clothing, cloth-ing, lack of rest, and damp and crowded houses, makes him more susceptible to rheumatic fever. Some of the early warning signals sig-nals of rheumatic fever are loss of appetite, failure to gain weight,. |