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Show Home Living Review Page IB Lakeside Review Wednesday, September 25, 1985 2 i A r ? 3" 3! Amblyopia ROBERT REGAN Review Staff ; If Shakespeare had known about amblyopia he might have written To see or pot to see, that is the question. The answer to that question should be a resounding YES from every parent of aged-childre- n. pre-scho- ol The reason for such a strong answer is that amblyopia or, as it is blindusually known, lazy-ey- e ness, is easy to detect, easy to treat and is completely curable. Amblyopia is a form of eye disease where one eye becomes so dominant the other one fails to develop and falls into disuse blindhence the name lazy-ey- e ness. However if the tendency toward amblyopia is detected in the preschool years the disease is easier to cure. According to J. Fred Whitney, director of Sight Conservation at the State Office of Education, Amblyopia is much more treatable at an earlier age vs. 6 or 7 when the childs visual growth is completed. To help stop this preventable form of blindness, a new Utah law, H.B. 328, makes it mandatory that children have an ambly- opia screening before they enter kindergarten. It is important to get the the V2- - to this is the target group who can be helped the most, continued Whitney. -- T S - There are approximately 40,000 in that target group in the state of Utah and 37,000 kindergarten children. Last year 2,882 or so kindergarteners Were missed and a whopping 23,299 preschool-age- d children were missed. The challenge (in screening) is that audience, said those children about Whitney who were not yet captured in a kindergarten classroom. Almost all of the screening done in Davis County is through a joint effort between the Davis County Public Health Department and the Davis County School District And they hold free screening clinics which are held at elementary schools and some of the preschool and day care centers in the area. Davis is one of the strongest groups has been for years and years, Whitney continued. The Davis School District is the fourth largest in the state and yet has one of the highest percentages, 55 percent, of screening the group, according to state records. Though were good wed like to be better," said public health nurse Harry Wesche. Were the best in the state and want all kids to be free of the possibility of being blind and the only way to do that is to have parents help us. Statewide, 1,589 children were referred for vision help with an even 100 coming from the Davis Amblyopia is detected through a minute-lon- g screening process that is really childsplay. The preschooler or kindergartener simply mimics with his hands the direction of a big letter E that is shown him. By observing the accuracy of each of three tests, both eyes together then each eye separately, a trained observer can decide if a referral to an eye care professional is warranted. If a referral is made then simple and effective treatment can begin. According to Dr. Kim Taylor, chairman of the medical advisory committee to the Prevent Blindness Society, treatment of lazy eye blindness involves the patching of the normal eye. We first look for the cause and then force the eye to see, he continued. We patch the normal, seeing eye and that stimulates development of the lazy eye. If detected and treated in a the cure can take as short a time as one month, but if detection and treatment occur at 6 years then its impossible to cure, hopeless really, said Tay- non-capti- two-thir- ds non-capti- ve district s' if? ? 5? Thursday 926- - Freemont, Burwill take which ton, King, West Point, Sunset El., clinics, screening Vae View, Woods Cross, Stewart, only a half hour of a parents time, will be offered this rest of Muir, Tolman, and Knowlton. this'week from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Friday 927- - Boulton, Valley and from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the View, Farmington El., Bountiful El., Kaysville El., Layton El., So. following schools: Clearfield, So. Weber, and Wednesday 925- - Cook, Columsatch. bia, East Layton, Doxey, Crest-vieOrchard, Taylor, Oak Hills, Kindergarten children will be checked the same day. Holbrook, and Washington. The next series of public eye w, i lor. Amblyopia is not outgrown and must be treated within the early developmental years of life or se- rious and often times permanent , visual loss will occur. Though amblyopia itself is rare, one in 35 preschool children in Utah will have an eye defect serious enough to require professional treatment IGNORING a ponytail-pullin- g Big E screening game by r: sister, Michelle Crowther is taught the her mother Carol. Her sister is Stephanie. m r" Many Unproven Theories Surround AIDS, Doctor Says Questions from paramedics, medical workers and the general public about the disease AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) were answered at McKay-De- e Hospital Center by Dr. Alton H. Wagnon, a local Dr. Wagnon said the disease is vitransmitted by the HTLV-11- 1 rus and is spread by sexual contact or the exchange of blood with someone who carries the virus. He traced the disease to its sus- pected origins in Africa through the bite of an infected monkey to man. The disease spread to the United States and was first recognized about 1982, There are many unproven theories about AIDS, says Dr. Wagnon, and much is to be learned, bu at present, the population mjst likely to be infected with AIDS involves homosexual men, drug addicts and hemophiliacs and others who are infected through blood transfusions. Few women are included in the 12,000 AIDS victims now known in this country, but whether or not that will change remains to be seen, he says. A small percentage of women in this country are infected with AIDS he said. Several emergency medical technicians asked Dr. Wagnon what precautions could be taken when giving medical attention to AIDS victims. Suppose I give resuscitation to someone with AIDS, asked one paramedic. How can I protect myself from becoming infected? At that point in time, (after contact) there is nothing you can do, but your risk is very small. There is no evidence that contact with saliva of mouth-to-mou- mouth-to-mou- th th AIDS victims, even kissing can spread the disease. If it were me, I would probably go in within three months and be tested fori the antibody", he says. There is nothing you can do about it, there is no vaccine, you cant clean your mouth out with bleach, so theres really nothing you can do. But I promise you that the risk is extremely small." Dr. Wagnon suggested the paramedics clean emergency equipment with a sloution of water and ten percent household bleach after transporting an AIDS victim. This will kill the virus." He said the fear some parents have about having a child with AIDS attending public school is hysteria." Being a parent I can understand it, but there is no evidence there is any risk."' Some medical workers have contracted AIDS, but only in one We no longer feel that blood case, says Dr. Wagnon, has the disease been transferred from a transfusions are a risk, blood is patient to a medical worker. A now considered totally safe, he nurse pricked her finger while says. Sophisticated screening and working with the blood of an testing methods have brought this AIDS victim," he says. Other about, he added. medical workers infected with Limiting sexual contact is paraAIDS have fallen into the high mount in containing the spread risk categories of homosexuals or of the virus, he said. It is estimated that 100,000 drug addicts, he added. He warned those attending the people in this country will be inlecture that AIDS is likely to infected by the AIDS virus in five crease drastically in numbers in years, says Dr. Wagnon. The the next five years. Right now there is no effective treatment for AIDS," he says. To date no one has been cured with AIDS and no Share your wedding story with one has been rendered immune." the in community through the Lakehigh risk groups People should not donate blood, says Dr. side Review. Wagnon, as a means of preventThe Review will print a picture ing the spread of AIDS. They along With a story of engagement should not donate blood if they or wedding free of charge. Deadhave been exposed to the virus, line for all wedding, engagement he added. problem with developing a vac- cine is this virus multiplies so; fast and mutates so fast, that' when we make a vaccine, beore . we manufacture the vaccine and ' get it distributed ,the virus is mu-- ; tated and the vaccine is no longer effective. The problem is finding something about the virus that! we can build an antibody against and therefore develop an effective vaccine. Right now there is no promising information on that." " Getting Married? Announce Event , material is Thursday afternoon at 3:30. 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