THE CENTRE
By WILLIAM C. UTLEY
PPROXIMATELY 3830 cases of
poliomyelitis—"polio" for short
and popularly known as “infan-
tile paralysis” -- have been
brought to light In North Carolina In
one of the worst epidemics of the
dread disease In recent history.
The epidemic is rapidiy spreading
morth Into Virginia, Its further course
will probably be checked with the ad-
vent of cooler weather, for polio Is a
summer disease, and by the efforts of
local, state and federal health authorl-
ties. They have turned the area Into a
uu
gigantic human laboratory for the
study of the use of vaccines In im-
munizing persons to the disease. Med-
fecal authorities on the spot belleve It
will prove to be the most Important
experiment of its kind ever undertaken.
North Carolina's plight follows In
the wake of lesser epldemics in Call-
forfila and elsewhere. The very seri
ousness of the Increase In Infantiie
paralysis cases may prove to be a
blessing In disguise if enough can be
learned about the insidious virus, which
twists and cripples bodies, to protect
humanity against it In the future.
The first widespread attack of pollo
was noticed In Jackson county, In the
for western part of North Carolina
From there the disease jumped, In the
words of Dr. J. C. Knox, state epl
demlologist, “like a skyrotket” “and
“burst” in Raleigh and the rest of
Wake county, all the way across the
state, on the Atlantic seaboard.
It is believed that the disease In
North Carolina has been checked and
is abating, but In Virginia the num-
ber of cases reported is on the upturn,
its course having seemingly followed
the highways over the entire length of
the state, with no indication yet as to
where its spread will stop.
Cause of Spread Unknown,
Just how the disease was carried Is
not known. Direct contact with a dis
eased person Is not necessary to con-
tract it. It almost never strikes two
members of the same family. “Car
riers”—people who have such mild
cases of pollo that they do not even
feel sick—carry the virus to others
whose natural immunity is low and
who therefore contract the disease In
considerably more violent form. That
fs much the same ag the manner In
which typhoid fever and diphtheria are
spread. A single carrier, unknown to
himself, may create several severe
cases,
When a few carriers hit a region
where the natural immunity of (he peo.
ple is relatively low, an epidemic Is
usually the result. That Is probably
what happened In North Carolina and
Virginia.
While the disease Is not nearly so
much confined to young children as
the term Infantile paralysis would sug-
gest, It Is still more prevalent In chil-
dren of five or less than In any other
age group. For that reason the one
gure preventive Is ‘a difficult one to
administer. It Is complete Isolation.
The only way to be absolutely certain
of keeping children from catching polio
fs to keep them away from all play-
mates and from all crowds and pub
lle gatherings. The same applies to
adults, but they are not so likely to
eatch It
Unfortunately there is no sure way
to tell who Is immune and who Is not.
And there Is no means of effecting
artificial immunity which has been sat.
isfactorily proven. Vaccines which may
do the trick are being tested now in
the southeast zpidemlie,
Dr. Maurice Brodie, working under
Dr. William H. Park, head of the New
York city health departmént, has de
veloped the Park Brodie vaccine. An
other has been developed by Dr. John
A. Kolmer, of the Temple university
medical school In Philadelphia. With
the William H. Merrell company, mann.
facturing chemists of Cineinnatl, Doc.
ter Kolmer Is providing between 6.0600
and 7.000 “shots” of the vaccine free
every month—enougu to wvaccioate
about 8,600 children,
Test Two Serums.
Neither of these vaccines must be
believed to be a cure. They are merely
preventives, Both of them contain the
pollo virus—not a bacterium, but a
poison. The Park-Brodie vaccine con.
tains the “killed” virus and Doctor
Kolmer's contains the greatly weak.
ened virus. Both have been known to
nce In animals an immunity which
lasts about two years. How long It will
iast on human beings his not yet been
determined, for It has not yet had
f t test. .
ry requisite for both vac
the Rhesu: monkey, the little
monkey, so called because
way his face gets red when he
of
is excited, which we see In zoos.
derwater treatment. Above:
for science.
Rhesus monkeys are imported
from India, where they are held
to be sacred, at a cost of £10.00
each. In preparation for giving his
life that humanity may be saved
from the scourge of.polio, the mon-
key is quarantined for two weeks
to make sure that it is in good
health. At the end of that period
it is given an ether anesthetic and
the polio virus Is injected through its
skull into the brain, Infantile paralysis
develops,
When the disease reaches its climax,
the monkey is killed and its spinal
cord, full of the virus, Is removed.
This cord 1s hacked up Into tiny bits
and Immersed In a salt solution In a
vessel which contains a number of
gteel balls a half inch or so In di-
ameter. While the vessel Is shaken and
agitated for 12 hours, the balls crush
the bits of spinal cord to a pulp. The
fluid which is thus obtained Is at-
tenuated with sodium ricinoleate and
allowed to Incubate for eight hours.
Then it Is strained and purified and put
into bottles which hold five cuble centi-
meters each, enough to bring Immunity
to three children.
The cost of making a three-dose
treatment is $2.00. In order to reduce
this cost—which Is forced by the high
cost of importing the animals—Doctor
Kolmer suggests that a laboratory be
established right at the source of sup-
ply in India. There the spinal cords
could be prepared and the vaccine
shipped out in a solution of glycerine.
Children Replace Animals.
While Indications certainly point to
the fact that at last artificial Immunity
has been perfected, the vaccines are
still. admittedly in the experimental
stage. The last great experiment Is
one of the most dramatic medical tests
that could be imagined.
For Instead of monkeys or white
mice, the laboratory subjects are boys
and girls. Some of them are selected
to receive the vaccine and an equal
number are selected as “controls” who
will not receive the injections, but who
will be observed for symptoms exactly
the same as the vaccinated subjects,
All selections are made by lot. Ab-
solutely no partiality is shown. To
insure against the personal acqguain-
tance element which might destroy the
impartiality so vital to such an under
taking, the administration of the tests
has been taken out of the hands of lo-
cal authorities. Medical men from the
United States public health service are
operating to relieve local physicians
from the Inhuman task. Dr. James P.
Leake directs the work.
Dr. A. G. Gilliam, at Greensboro, N.
C., has been charged with the thank.
less job of deciding which children are
to receive the vaccine and which are
to act as controls. It is he who must
lisjen to the pitiful pleading of par-
ents that their children be given the
chance for immunity. Here is some-
thing which may prevent thelr loved
ones from contracting one of the most
dreadful of all diseases. Even If i
does not work it will do no harm.
But humanity must know for certain
whether it will work. And if such
knowledge is ever to be acquired, the
tests must be conducted Impersonally.
The vaccine must be administered to
children of all classes—the poor, the
rich, the Intelligent, the unintelligent.
It must be given to many whether thelr
parents want them to have It or not.
And it must be withheld from others
whose parents have, like one of the
most prominent surgeons In the South,
fought tooth and toenall and pulled
every string in desperate attempt to
gecure immunization for them.
Selecting the Subjects,
There Is drama for you! What
heroes these federal men are to be
able to withstand the frantle pleading
of loving mothers and straw-grasping
fathers!
Here's
does it:
Parents who desire vaccine for thelr
children register with their family
physicisn. Half the children sre se-
lected for vaccine and the other half
as controls by Doctor Gllllam's office.
Then those to be vaccinated are or-
dered to_report back to their physician
and are given the vaccine. The physi-
clan must give it as ordered, must ac
count for his supply, because the fed:
eral men have the names of the re
ciplents on file and oe teciplents them.
the way Doctor Gilliam
Ready to give their lives
Of course other tests are belng made.
It is being found that Injections of
serums prepared from the blood of
convalescent cases fs not harmful, but
is also of very little help. Dr. W.
Lloyd Aycock, of the infantile paraly-
sis commission of Harvard university,
belleves that heredity 1s an important
factor and is making experiments to
determine the truth of his assumption.
Symptoms Often Unrecognized,
Infantile paralysis in a locality
where there 1s no epidemic is often un-
recognized untill actual paralysis
sets in. At first It looks like any one
of a number of other Infectious dis
eases, There Is headache, vomiting,
drowsiness, Irritabliity, fever, flushing,
congestion of the throat and great
sweating at night. Usually early symp-
toms are stiffness of the back and
peck. Since the Inflammation reaches
the nervous system, there may be pain
in the muscles and joints, tenderness
of the skip and palin in moving any of
the joints. This latter pain may be so
intense that any slight movement will
be almost unbearable,
As soon as the doctor suspects polio,
he will probably want to make certain
laboratory tests to make sure, for
there are other diseases, such as menin-
gitls, which affect the spinal cord. He
will probably inject a needle into the
spinal cord and draw off some of the
fluld to examine it.
In the early, or preparaiytic stages,
the disease may resemble a severe
summer cold and is Indeed upon In
stance without more harmful per
manent effect than a cold. Early and
correct diagnosis Is of great Impor-
tance,
The victim Is Immediately put to bed
and given absolute rest. Perhaps the
doctor will administer a convalescent
blood serum or a vaccine, the useful
ness of neither of which is certain.
The patient is kept away from all con-
tact with others. And that is about
all that can be done at that point,
Six or eight weeks may be the pe-
riod during which all movement or ex-
ertion Is highly dangerous.
The apparent helplessness of the
physician during this period sometimes
drives frightened parents to accept the
remedies of so-called “natural healers”
and other quacks which often destroy
the patient's chances for survival
Exercise Must Be Gradual,
Not until every trace of tenderness
is gone can even the simplest of mus
cle exercises begin. Fatigue must be
avoided. Relaxation and ease must be
encouraged. Swimming pools and un-
dérwater treatment are desirable In
most cases. This method was discov-
ered in a Chicago hospital. The de
velopment of the Warm Springs, Ga,
pool under the patronage of its most dis-
guished visitor and patient, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, and using h's
name for its natural publicity value,
has encouraged many citles to main |
tain pools for the underwater treat
ment of Infantile paralysis
Much of the rebullding process de-
pends upon the patient himself and the
attitude of the persons with whom he
comes In contact during convalescence. |
It Is the tendency of many families |
to pamper and pity the child who has
some physical defect stich as that |
which may be brought on by paralysis, |
&nd the child too often for his own |
good takes advantage of the situation.
While such a child should not be |
spoiled, he should be entertained, en- |
couraged and treated as a perfectly
normal member of the family Insofar
as possible, according to authorities.
Slowly but certainly, mankind is go- |
ing to learn how to beat poliomyelitis, |
Just as it has other diseases, One of |
the most important steps will be the
experiments now being conducted in |
North Carolina and Virginia, :
Meanwhile, parents whose children
have been afflicted need only to ex.
amine history to take heart. To men. |
tion only two, there are men who have |
attained great heights although vie |
tims of infantile paralysis, Sir Wal |
ter Scott was struck down by the |
disease when hardly more than a baby, |
yet lived to become Immortal in the
world of letters; Franklin D, Roosevelt
did not contract It until he was a
fully grown man, yet he is today Pres. |
ident of the United States and one of
the most tireless dynamos of energy
in all history,
The moral Is:
don't give up!
© Western Newspaper Union,
#
Holder for Kitchen
By GRANDMOTHER CLARK
As a decorative hanger for the
kitchen, this little girl will add an.
other smile to your home, It's an
attractive string holder and costs
only a few cents and a little spare
time. An acceptable gift novelty,
and after you make up one you will
want more of these Dutch Girls to
serve you,
This package
stamped material
out, also died
thoes printed
board. This material and
tions how to make it up will
mailed to you for 15¢ for one pack
nge or four packages for 0c. Ad
dress Home Craft Co, Dept, A, 10th
and St. Louis Ave. St. Louis, Mo,
Enclose a stamped addressed enve-
lope for reply when writing for any
information.
No. A 1 contains
ready to be cut
out girl's head and
in colors on heavy
Tells on Tax Dodger
A burglar has helped the agthorl
ties of Carlsbad, the Bohemian holl-
day resort, to deal with a case of
evasion of taxes, He broke into 8
Carlsbad shop and robbed the till
taking away an account book with
him,
Evidently he knew something of
accountancy, for a few days later
the police received the book by post
with numerous items marked in red
pencil, “Dodging his taxes. Make
him shell out!” an enclosed note
urged, and, the figures showed sys
tematic evasion of @ turnover tax.
The authorities have decided to
continue searching for the burglar,
all the same,
i
i
DIETARY HABITS
NEED FOSTERING
EARLY IN
health as food. The wellbeing of
a child depends on it, and his fu-
ture stamina will reflect nutritive
discrepancies In babyhood.
The mother who thinks that there
is time enough ahead for corrective
diet is laboring under a traditional
delusion that up until two years of
age and somctimes longer, milk Is
the sum total of everything.
Milk is the warp and the woof of
what It takes to get through life,
and especially at its beginning. But
it needs supplementing, because its
chemistry Is low In a few needed es-
sentials and the child, set in his all
milk diet, resists other foods,
Doctors Prescribe Varied Foods.
long ago recognized the
value of adding other foods to the
diet of milk, early in babyhood, in
order to offset future finicky appe-
tites,
gels
Doctors
his cod-liver oll and
a spoonful or two of prepared vege
etable itself. At a period that In
the past would have
ered murderous he gets his bit of
cereal, part of the yolk of an egg,
stewed fruit,
Whatever
should,
der the doctor's direction,
a difference In bables,
ut the great truth that
mothers do not know is that
dren with touchy appetites at
or eight or ten years of age,
the results of fixed preference
babyhood.
Caution Must Be Exercised,
Another thing that
membered Is that as milk must be
the aipha and omega of his
today's baby is given,
There is
many
six
are
| therefore the amounts of other
{ food given must not be so great
{ that the willingness to take milk is
| decreased,
The doctor will give you lists and
schedules for feeding. My sugges
| tions here are only for one purpose,
| That is to show “why” and “how"
i aversions to needed foods are start.
ted, Food habits, which mean fiavor
{ habits, have to be csitivated early.
Weeping Women Flee Sale
Weeping bitterly, hundreds of fash-
| fonably-dressed women ran from
| bargain counters into the street, ty-
| ing up traflic In Nice, France, re.
| cently. Gas fumes which had quick-
ily filled the bullding caused the
| stampede and many bargains were
| ground under foot, Irate shoppers
| declare the gas attack was the work
of rival stores, but others feel sure
it was the deed of a practical joker.
Quick Pleasant
Successful Elimination
Let's be frank-—there's only one
way for your body to rid itself of
the waste material that causes aclid-
| ity, gas, headaches, bloated feelings
and a dozen other discomforts
Your intestines must function and
the way to make them move quick-
ly, pleasantly, successfully, without
griping or harsh irritants is to chew
| 8a Milnesia Wafer thoroughly, in ac
cordance with directions on the bot-
tle or tin, then swallow,
Milnesin Wafers, pure milk of
magnesia in tablet form, each equiv-
{| alent to a tablespoon of liquid milk
of magnesia, correct acidity, bad
breath, flatulence, at thelr sosirce,
| and enable you to have the quick,
pleasant, successful elimination so
necessary to abundant health,
Milnesia Wafers come in bottles
| at 35¢ and 60c or in convenient tins
| at 20c. Recommended by thousands
of physicians, All good druggists
carry them, Start using these pleas.
ant tasting effective wafers today.
© Alweys lociet on Simonis and
Simanig Keener, For your pro-
tection the famous trade mark
“Simoniz” is on every con.
Bl NO! NO! THAT'S NOT THE
| CLUB | WANT ! LISTEN ~
fl GO BACK TO THE CWB
WON'T FEEL ANY
BOY | HE DIDN'T
00 ANYTHING
BUT You KNOW
OH WELL...LETS Jf SWELL!
QUIT! | DON'T FEEL | BREAK LP
UKE PLAYING J THE GAME.
ANYWAY ! I'VE | MABE THAT
GOT A TERRIBLE A WiLL TEACH
of
upset nerves,
or prevent sound sleep!”
.
you...try
t's
—
Breet,
WON Veena