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Show You and Your Health , By MORRIS F1SHBEIN MHer. Joerael tfce Aaserkaa Medical Association, and Hyeeie, HmU Moesiliw . Of all the infectious diseases which attack man, those spread -through discharges from the-mouth the-mouth and nose are most preva-I preva-I lent. The list includes not only such widespread diseases as tuberculosis tu-berculosis and smallpox, but also the common cold, pneumonia, influenza, in-fluenza, and many of the contagious conta-gious diseases of childhood. There was a time when the unusual un-usual person in any community was the one without smallpox scan on his face. Today it is ' rare indeed to see In any civilised region a person with these scars. He that Is so disfigured is a living liv-ing monument to his own Ignorance Igno-rance or his parents' stupidity. Smallpox is preventable. In fact, vaccination against smallpox was the first specific method of prevention pre-vention discovered. When Edward Jenner eatab-lished eatab-lished its usefulness by hia experiments ex-periments in England in 17M, he took the first step toward specific spe-cific inoculation against disease, a step that haa led to all the specific spe-cific methods of prevention already al-ready mentioned in this aeries. Before use of vaccination, about five people of every 100 escaped smallpox, and about 29 During the last 10 years, less than 600,000 cases have been reported in the United States, which means that only one of every 200 persons had the disease during that time. In the United States, however, there Is more smallpox than in any other civilised country In the world, except in British India. Most other oivilised countries have made vaccination so compulsory com-pulsory they have been able to prevent smallpox In a way not possible In America. In vaccination against smallpox, small-pox, a person receives an injection injec-tion of vaccine virus Which seta up in him a localized infection of a much less serious type that causes his body to develop resistance re-sistance against smallpox. The resistance may wear off after a number of years so that it is wise for him to be vaccinated vaccinat-ed again after a reasonable interval in-terval of time. Vaccinations may protect for as long as 20 years. It l customary nowadays to vaccinate a child when he Is about 6 months old, then to vaccinate him again just before he enters school. After that, vaccination is necessary neces-sary only when there is danger of an epidemic or of exposure to smallpox, or whenever a person per-son plans to travel In the tropics or in China, where the danger of smallpox is greater than in America. Every person exposed directly or indirectly to smallpox should be immediately vaccinated, and then vaccinated again if It fails to "take. In the old days, vaccination was a serious matter. Improvement Improve-ment in methods and the materials mate-rials used, however, has made it possible to vaccinate with a small blister that heals rapidly and ia not likely to cause any symptom worae than a slight itching. itch-ing. It is important to keep the spot that has been vaccinated dry, cool, and clean. Unnecessary use of the arm should be avoided. The crust which forms on the vaccination vac-cination should not be scraped off or rubbed with ointments. It is not well to cover the vaccina-. vaccina-. tion with a shield or pad of any sort, since this would cause perspiration and macerate the skin under the crust Most doctors doc-tors merely see that- the crust covering the vaccination is protected pro-tected with a little gauze. During the World war, millions of soldiers were vaccinated and there are no records of any serious seri-ous results. The slight possibility of any harm from vaccination compared with the serious danger of smallpox is so infinitesimal it needs hardly to be mentioned. |