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Show j TO STOP THE SPREAD OF I DISEASE BY SCHOOLS. j Doctors have observed that dlph jl fheria, measlea and scarlet fever show 1 I a marked increase in the autumn P when the schools open and an eqnall;. I definite decrease In the summer when If the schools are closed, and they have I reached the lrre6letible conclusion jl that schools spread dieeaac I The children of the State School for j! the Dear and Blind go to their bomefl I In the summer vacation This fall. I when they returned from all parts o( j the state, the school opened wll smallpox and measles and only h ih j' strict enforcement of fjuarani ine ere II tb diaea8es b'lfl in cnecl I One of our medical Journals says that all that has been learned about the modes of transmission of certain I diseases indicates that the taking r H a large number of children out from I their restricted family and neighbor J hood relationships and bringing them into contact with a much larger group I will Increase the opportunities for in fertlon. As regards opportunities for f Infection furnished by the school, it 'j must be admitted that while the slate the common drinking cup and the roll I ertowel are fast passing away, suffi cient facilities for the transfer of die I eae germs still exist in the friendly I exchange of pocket handkerchiefs, lip- I moistened lead pencils, chewing gum I and the like The school play ground. . as well as the school room, must be 1 considered in its bearing on the 6ub- I Ject of school diseases The algnif! I cance ot school attendance on the pub I lie health side lies not only In the d assembling of children In a room, but i Hi also in the bringing into more or less Intimate association a number of chll-l dren who would otherwise not have met at all. Increasing the number of I ni associates must necessarily increase I Hi chances of infection. A child in a family in which a case j. of diphtheria exists may bear In its throat living barclli without manifest- 1 ing any Bign of disease If thlB child j Is allowed to enter school a playmate may acquire the bacillus without in its turn becoming definitely 111. This wee ond child, however, may take I he I M Krm home and pass it on to a non- j school going child in the same family i who then may develop a typicaL case I of diphtheria. Methods of control of ji school and Institutional outbreaks of ' diphtheria are therefore coming to be focused on the detection and exclusion j I of the carrier Disinfection of Inno cent chairs and tables and enforced j school closure are in general found to be less effective than the discovery j and isolation of the living bearer of 1 diphtheria germs. d The throats of children should be 8' bacteriologically examined and It a might be well to subject all to a throat H U spray at the opening of school A -W' health statement should be required of all parents, answering a number I a of printed questions as to diseases Id the home or neighborhood during va W cation periods A child from aliome .3' where disease has existed should un i.l-M dergo a bactenologic examination. We I understand the city physician Is equipped with laboratory appliances to make these tests. Why not make 2 'be city physician medical adviser to I 21 the schools with the object In view ,3 of preventing the spread of disease with the re-ass em b ling of the little j ones afteT each vacation? |