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Show I HOOKWORM BEING FOUGHT BY I A few years ago the hookworm dis- I ease was spoken of as a hoax. Even when Rockefeller gave a large sum j of money for the study of the hook- I worm, many papers ridiculed the ln- ' vesication. Today the hookworm 16 I recognized as an affliction equal to I that of tho white plague among the people of mild climates, workers In I j" jj mines and those who go barefoot. I The disease is so prevalent In many ji eouthern states that tho Boy Scouts j of America have devoted themsehts I to a crusade against It. j! The method by which the Boy J Scouts of America In Texas are be- log of help Is shown in a letter which Dr. H M. Boerner. state director di-rector of the hookworm commission of Texas, has written "Texas," he says, "has been divided divid-ed Into sanitary districts, each dis- I trict being constituted by 6ix or eight counties, the county being tho unit. of operation In which five free state T and county dispensaries will be open- I ed for the free examination of hook- I worm disease "As ou know, this disease Is quite m prevalent in the ffouth, and many peo- A pie are suffering with the Infection m and do not know It, yet these lndi- 4w I vlduals are a public menace, as they are carrier and disseminators of the Hj Infection. To eradicate the hookworm Jjj disease wo must treat the carriers jSl as well as those showing symptoms of B, the Infection. Sji "To accomplish this, It was my dc- Sjl sire to examine every Boy Scout In .fl Texas, as thea young men and boys are subject to Infection by hookworms when they take their hikes. If I 'M could have th names of the scout J masters over the state, these men '. could lecture to the boys and advise 4 them to submit for examination This would accomplish untold good as well I as setting an example to thousands of 1 other children who, though infected, ni have not the moral courage to pre- 3 sent themselves at our dispensaries " I J The Boy Scouts are learning the symptoms of th disease They also hav been taught the precautions that ar necessary' against It and are helping help-ing spread that information. |