| Show FIGHT PNEUMONIA WITH SERUMS wider use of injections checks deaths from some types of gernis germs now prevalent best advice dont catch cold ew or x r 4 M N 1 1 S RK Y W 4 W A V ta q V W new york cites new medical center as viewed from the air in the left foreground is the hospital of rockefeller institute for medical research where much of the important experimenting with pneumonia serums has been conducted inset dr wendll wendell INI BI stanley winner of 1000 award for isolating viruses causing colds influenza and other diseases by WILLIAM WILLIAA 1 C UTLEY r HIS is the open season for pneumonia the dread disease j which attacks so quickly and with such telling effect is going the rounds more thoroughly than usual this year it has hardly reached epidemic proportions yet new yorkers reported nearly cases in the last week of the old year chicago had pneumonia deaths in december as compared with in the same month of 1935 and other localities have been alarmed by similar outbreaks although actual figures were not yet available at the time of this writing it is probable that pneumonia in its several types killed off nearly persons in the united states in 1936 that is as if some swift and terrible scourge had wiped out the entire population of a city like savannah ga rockford ill wilkes barre pa or sacramento calif fortunately there are aspects of the picture which are heartening as well as those which are dismal health authorities believe that if serum treatments were made universally ver sally available and were adequately administered deaths from lobar pneumonia which causes about half the fatalities might be reduced 46 per cent pneumonia follows colds there is a popular conception that pneumonia frequently attacks persons who were perfectly well but by some widely known authorities this is considered the bunk ai it rarely happens pneumonia usually follows a cold or influenza if you would protect yourself from it say health officers dont disdain from losing a days work just because of a little old cold stay homeard home and take care of yourself if you are a mother dont neglect a cold because there is housework to do and children to take care of go to bed dont let a child go to school or a husband go to work if he is suffering from a cold A cold is of course not always pneumonia in its first stage but if you have a cold accompanied by a fever better call a doctor time was when he could not tell very quickly whether you had pneumonia or not and could not begin administering the lifesaving life saving treatment until the cold had a strangle hold upon you the modern physician does not ordinarily have to take such chances he can take a small portion of the sputum a sufferer coughs up and send it to a bacteriological laboratory the health departments part ments of some states maintain branch laboratories at convenient points for use by doctors if such a laboratory be close by the doctor may have a full report within half an hour there are two kinds of pneumonia bronchopneumonia and or lobar pneumonia the former occurs usually as a complication of 0 some other disease I 1 and often strikes elderly persons who are feeble and infirm it is responsible for about half the annual death toll from pneumonia the lobar form caused by oval shaped germs called is responsible for the other half 32 types of pneumonia lobar pneumonia is an acute infection in which the lungs light spongy tissue solidifies cannot contain air and is inefficient for breathing the lung fills with bloody and when the sufferer coughs his sputum is red streaked there are 32 known types of the germ which causes lobar pneumonia the fists report to the physician tells him which type is causing the disease in each case submitted over two thirds of the cases are caused by germs of types I 1 II 11 V VII and VIII for each of these types there is a specific serum which may be used in fighting the disease after a patients sputum is is typed the physician knows which kind of serum to administer serums highly specific serums have been used in treating pneumonia for more than 25 years but they were slow to grow into general acceptance and widespread use there are several reasons for this one is that the serums are highly specific type I 1 serum will help cases of type I 1 only type II 11 serum will combat type II 11 only and so on this specific nature was not sufficiently understood der stood for a long time often the wrong serum was administered the sufferer failed to improve and the blame was laid upon the se rum in addition the serums obtainable tai in the early days were not always of the best quality desensitizing patients in the usual procedure after a physician has obtained a report revealing the type of causing the patients illness lie he tests the patients sensitivity to the serum A small amount of dilute horse serum is dropped into one eye and a little of it is injected under the skin before the curative serum is is given steps must be taken to desensitize sensitive patients in the first dose the amoun amount t usually injected into the veins is 20 cubic centimeters this is done at once the patient begins to feel better after the first dose but another injection will be made the second day and pio probably bably another I 1 the third day in cases which have been discovered early enough the patient may be well after the third dose of serum but must spend some time resting in bed from the moment a case is diagnosed mom no se as p pneumonia neu monia the sufferer must have the strictest care ile he ag X look out for that sneeze shun people like this you may catch their colds pneumonia usually starts with a cold or the flu must go to bed take plenty of water and nourishing food there must be plenty of fresh air and if necessary some artificial means of supplying oxygen such as an oxygen tent if it is in a hospital there will be a nurse to keep constant watch and to keep the patient from injuring himself if he becomes delirious li the physician too must keep constant watch visiting the patient often if the latter is restless quieting medicines may be used the doctor may strap the patients chest if pain is very great must avoid visitors recovery from a pneumonia for which there is a specific serum is is usually more rapid than from one of the others sometimes coming within a few hours after the treatment patients who suffer from a type for which there is no serum receive the same sort of general care and with the help of oxygen stand a good chance of pulling through but their recovery is apt to take a longer time it is of prime importance that no visitors be allowed for the good of society as well as for the health of the patient persons in close contact with the patient may carry germs in their mouths and ought to wear masks and gowns it has been recognized by authorities ties that if we were to check the spread of p pneumonia pneumonia neu monia we might begin by checking the common cold and influenza for it is with one of these that nearly all cases of lobar pneumonia start we should stay out ot of crowds when there are common cold epidemics avoid persons who have colds keep ourselves from getting chilled overheated or generally run down leading in the battle is the rockefeller institute for medical research it was in the institutes hospital in new york city that the first patient suffering from type I 1 was treated with serum and the organization has been foremost in developing pneumonia serums ever since now dr wendell M stanley thirty two year old genius of the institute staff has recently received the 1000 prize of the american association for the advancement of science for his discovery of the nature of disease producing viruses that cause colds influenza and some other diseases dr stanley and his ass assistants stants at the princeton N J laboratories of rockefeller institute are now trying to find ways to immunize us from the cold and influenza viruses they have so far reported success in in rendering inactive 36 out of 57 varieties of pi plant ant viruses by treating them with the serum of rabbits which had been injected with the same virus without producing any disease effects western newspaper union |
