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Show i. si, .t' of - y- .'f- y1'; I I Let Our Motfo Ec GOOD HEALTH I BY DR. LLOYD ARNOLD ! I Professor of Bacteriology and Pre- j I ventivc Medicine. University of I Illinoii, College of Medicine. I MEASLES MEASLES has too long been regarded re-garded as a trivial childhood disease. Parents seem to think . that every one has to have measles sooner or hiter, and the best thing to do Is to have it soon and have it : over with. It Is estimated that 95 (per cent of adults have had It. Just j because measles does not have such j a high death rates as smallpox and j scarlet fever, two other diseases characteriz-od by a rash, is no reason rea-son why we should let It continue. If we will all work together, we can stamp it out, as we have nearly succeeded In doing with smallpox. In children over seven years J measles without complications Is not a serious disease. But in children chil-dren under six years, particulaily under three years, measles too often results In death, or the child develops de-velops pneumonia or ear Infections from it, and then death may follow these diseases, or the child may sustain some other ailment that he will carry through life. During an average measles year In Illinois a measles epidemic occurs every second sec-ond or third year there were 3S,-000 3S,-000 cases, with 2S7 deaths. Most of the deaths were in the under six year group. This tally does not take into account the children who died from pneumonia following the attack of measles. It It had, the number of victims would have been much larger. Measles begins as a common sore throat and head cold ailment. The child Is feverish and Irritable; then about the fourth day the distinctive measles rash occurs. This rash Is very diffuse. It looks as If Ore skin had been rubbed with pale red ink. The patient is sick for at least another an-other five days. In the case of older old-er children who are put to bed and kept quiet and warm under a physician's phy-sician's care, there Is little to worry about. We do not know what causes measles. But we do know that it is contagious during the early head cold stage of the disease, before the skin rash appears. In fact, It's dlf- ncult to diagnose a head cold as the beginning stage of measles before be-fore the rash has appeared. Consequently, Con-sequently, If there are any measles in the neighborhood and your child develops a head cold and sore throat, keep him or her isolated from other children who have not had measles. In that way you can help protect the other children. Or there is a better way of protecting pro-tecting the child who has not had measles. Science has not been able to develop a vacclno against measles, as It has against smallpox nnd typhoid, since It does not know the causative agent of measles, but It has learned that If the blood of a person who has had measles Is injected Into a child who has not had measles, the child can be prevented pre-vented from having the disease. If the child has been exposed to measles, the Injection should be given within four days after the time of exposure, as that is the period pe-riod of Incubation of the disease. It the child has already reached the head cold stage, the injection will mean a less severe case than would otherwise occur. The blood Injection must be made by a physician. It is not given straight. The blood Is mixed with a sterile solution of sodium citrate, which prevents the blood from clotting. clot-ting. The Injection Is then a very simple matter. Vials of sterile solution solu-tion of sodium citrate fire supplied by the departments of health of many states to practicing physicians physi-cians free of cha-ge. The best blood to get comes from a person who Is In the convalescent stage of the disease. Five cubic centimeters or one-sixth ounce of convalescent measles serum will protect a child from measles. If this convalescent serum Is not nvall-! nvall-! able, then the blood of a person : who has recovered from measles j one to five years previously Is next ! best. More of this blood Is re-! re-! quired. And if the blood la not ; available, then the blood of one of 1 the parents or any other adult who has had the disease In childhood can be used. A person only rarely has measles twice. Once gives Immunity. The pp'.demlcs generally begin around CVristnias and extend to spring. The peak of an epidemic Is usually reached In late February or early March. But cases occur nil the year round, and it Is wWe to lie on the watch as sfx.n as school beglriR. There were an exceptional number of ca5es throughout the United States last year. I We cannot emphasize t'-o strongly that parents should make pi cry effort ef-fort to keep their children from contracting con-tracting the diM-ai-e, particularly children under Fix years of aire Also special pains hhould h taken to keep the child who Is und.-r par physically on account of 111 health or lack of proper nourishment, from exs;ire to measles. Measles takes a big toll of very young children chil-dren and of under-nourished ehll- dren. Isolation of a wnvlw rase prevents pre-vents the spread of the di-'-fis-e. If through accident a young child Is exposed, your physician can prevent the fjiveioprwTit of measles by using ; convalescent serum If ho considers such a procedure advisable. |