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Show Colds Held Enemy No. One; Per Capita Cost Set at $15 Editor's note: This is the second in a series of articles concerning prevention and cure of colds. By WINTHROP CADY "Someone has wisely stated that it's not the number of years that go over your head that makes you old, but the number of colds that go through your head,"' Dr. T. J. Howells, Salt Lake City health commissioner, said Wednes-, Wednes-, day In condemning the common cold as "public health enemy No. 1." "Statisticians have figured out that the common cold costs each of us in the r United States 115 jnc a year in doctor of a bi"' drug b'" and loss of time. SerieS It is a challenge to our civilization civiliza-tion why 50,000.000 Americans should have a cold each year," he said. Besides being expensive nuis-. ances, colds lead to pneumonia and influenza two very serious ailments. ail-ments. Influenza eases reported thus far In 1939 have been mild and not of the severe epidemic type. Dr. How-- How-- ells said. But, the same cannot be said for pneumonia. Dr. Howells, stating the mortality from pneumonia in . Salt Lake City is very high, esti-5 esti-5 mated one out of every five who i develop the disease die as a result. When stating colds lead to pneumonia. pneu-monia. Dr. Howells explained it is another organism, the pneumococ-cus, pneumococ-cus, that produces pneumonia. Science Sci-ence has found this pneumococcus Is constantly present In our nose and throat and nasal passages, but when our resistance is. greatly lowered and body forces weakened, we get the symptoms known as pneumonia, he stated. Good results can be obtained by serum treatment for any one of the 32 known types of pneumonia If a doctor is called early, the physician declared. "Pneumonia is a peculiar disease ' In that one attack does not give you an Immunity against the next, but makes you more susceptible." Dr. Howells said, recalling a case on record where a patient survived 10 attacks of pneumonia. |