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Show Qnd v-M Home 7 by Dr. Daryl J. McCarty Executive Secretary Utoh Education Association Medical people are worried wor-ried about a simple problem that can be as deadly as lockjaw. lock-jaw. It's apathy. You see, science has the tools to whip many diseases, but public health people are having a real difficulty overcoming over-coming public disinterest in using those tools. Ask grandpa how things used to be. Only a few decades de-cades ago people died by the scores because they contracted con-tracted diphtheria. Or polio. Immunization programs virtually vir-tually eradicated those diseases, di-seases, along with measles, German measles, whooping cough and even mumps. When the diseases disappeared, disap-peared, many people stopped worrying. When that happened, happen-ed, great numbers of parents neglected to have their children chil-dren immunized. Of the nation's 52 million children who are 14 years of age or younger, approximately approxi-mately 20 million have not been adequately immunized against these childhood diseases. di-seases. That's a genuinely serious situation. Since public schools bring large groups of people together, to-gether, the classroom can be a center for contagion. Parents can prevent this, if only they will realize the seriousness of the situation. Measles though by many to be a harmless disease di-sease can kill. Not only that, measles is associated with brain damage, pneumonia, pneumo-nia, deafness, and mental retardation. re-tardation. Whooping cough can kill, too. If you're a parent, you are the person most responsible for assuring that your child has been immunized. So call your doctor and ask that the youngster's immunization record be checked. If immunization im-munization is needed, you should see that it's done. Various organizations will soon be sponsoring a state -wide drive to make certain that 90 percent of Utah's children are completely pro -tected against these diseases. diseas-es. If you greet this program with apathy, your child could suffer. |