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Show BE CAREFUL OF TYPHOID MENACE Typhoid fever has become so rare that an outbreak of four or five ca'ses in a community causes wide pub- ; " 1 ' s Latest : I. &4feOfeli Ucity and intensive public health department de-partment activity. Yet there are many doctors still engaged in the practice of medicine who remember re-member only too well the times when riurine the late sum- Dr. Nathan S. mer and early fall, Davis III hospitals were full to overflowing with patients who were-incapacitated were-incapacitated for from 6 to 12 weeks by this disease. Typhoid fever presents four stages: a formative stage lasting two to three weeks, an active stage of equal length, a declining stage of a week or 10 days and then a convalescent period of three or four weeks. During the formative period the symptoms are chiefly languor, weariness, indisposition to exertion, sensations of heat and cold, a bad taste in the mouth, dizziness and pain in the head, back and limbs. By the time the second stage is reached the patient is so ill he goes to bed, is dull and drowsy and there is a continuous high temperature' which falls gradually ' during the third stage which the symptoms disappear. dis-appear. The veterans of the Spanish-American Spanish-American war remember that typhoid ty-phoid fever was almost as epidemic epidem-ic in camps in this country, in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines as was influenza during the last World war. If the medical profession had not learned that the disease was caused by drinking water or milk that contained the Bacillus Typhosis and that innoculation with the killed organisms produced a temporary immunity, it would have been as prevalent during the last World war as it was in 1898. As a matter of fact there was a great deal of typhoid in- France in 1914 and 1915 even though the protective innoculation had already been developed by a Frenchman. At the time of the Mexican Border service in 1916, our troops were pro- I I I n") ' ''DEATHS I JLjA In the United States (1 1 Caused by HFH l-U t L TYPHOID FEVER irrifCTw-ap) per 100.000 0T ' Population 1910-35.9 I , J I ,, , I t y 19381.9 tected only against typhoid. But a number of cases of a similar though milder disease, paratyphoid fever, that had its source in infected meat, developed. As a result, those participating par-ticipating in the World war in 1917 and 1918 were innoculated against both simultaneously, and there were few cases of either disease. The improvements in water supply, sup-ply, sewage disposal, and in food sanitation have tremendously lessened less-ened the chance of infection with either of these diseases or with cholera and amoebic dysentery which are similarly carried and have also been epidemic in the United Unit-ed States. However, there are a few typhoid carriers even among food handlers and as a result sporadic spo-radic cases occur. Sometimes political officials who do not thoroughly appreciate the dangers, because they do not remember re-member the conditions existing prior to 1900, neglect warnings and there is an epidemic such as that at the Manteno State hospital in Illinois in 1939. Because preventive measures have made these water and food borne infections extremely rare, even the members of the medical profession begin to neglect them. Yet one of the most important benefits bene-fits that will accrue to all who volunteer vol-unteer or are drafted for military or naval service, is the fact that all will be innoculated against typhoid and paratyphoid fevers. Further-. Further-. more, the army and navy medical corps and the U. S. Public Health service are doing all in their power to give the soldiers pure food, milk, and water. Give me health and a day. and I'll make the pomp of emperors em-perors ridiculous. Emerson. QUESTION BOX Send questions to Dr. Nathan S. Davis III. Winnetka. 111. 'Knclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.) Q. Many time? while lying relaxed re-laxed in bed just before going to sleep a nerve in some part of my body will contract suddenly causing me to jump involuntarily. Is there something wrong with my nervous system? Do you think I should see a doctor? F. M. A. It is a muscle that contracts, not a nerve. It indicates that ync are not completely relaxed in a comfortable position. |