Physical Examinations for Sacramento Correcting Defects Early and Living School Children. Long Lives. The Sacramento City Board of The late Alexander Graham Bell is Education has provided for the physi- another example of a great man who, cal examination and inspection of in his youth, was of frail constitution children of school age. Dr. George and became tuberculous, but who, C. Hall, city health officer, has en- through the application of sound dorsed the establishment of this new sense, overcame his physical handiwork in Sacramento. His statement caps, developed a rugged constitution, concerning the value of physical ex- lived a long and extremely useful life amination of school children follows: and contributed vastly more to soci"The physical inspection and exam-ety and to civilization than it will ination of children of school age ever be possble to measure. Theobrings forth much valuable informa- dore Roosevelt's development from tion, and such findings give the child an invalid in his youth to robust manwho is not physically strong an opportunity to become so. hood in the powerful days that were his is known to almost everyone. Recognition of the importance of History reveals the names of many this work is becoming universally men of genius who were tuberculous conceded. And much credit is due and who died young, crowding their the Board of Education in the City of short, brilliant lives with achieveSacramento for its progressive step ment. If Stevenson, Chopin and the in establishing a department with the many other men of genius who died sole purpose of caring for the bodies of tuberculosis in their early years of the school children. This natu- had been able to Overcome their rally will increase the mental efficiency of the children. The three R's can not be taught effectively to physically defective children, nor can such children be able to learn as much as if they were well and strong. physical handicaps and live long, useful lives, how much more might they have contributed to the culture and enjoyment of humanity? Our machinery for the discovery and correction of defects in childhood is very new and as yet we are unable to deHelp Reduce Diseases. termine how great the results to be Regular inspection by school nurses accomplished through this work may will reduce the number of children be. Perhaps one of its most remarkabsent from school on account of ill-able results may be the extension of ness. A child with a contagious dis- the lives of men of genius who are ease will naturally be sent home early as yet unborn. and before the other children are infected. Preventable communicable diseases may be expected to show a Why Should Rats Live? lower rate of incidence during the next school year in Sacramento than In commenting upon the need for in the year just past, if an efficient the control of plague the Bakersfield staff is employed. "Californian" says: "The bubonic There is no bigger or more impor- plague is an unpleasant subject, but tant subject of Health Department unpleasant publicity is necessary at work than the control of conmunicable diseases, and second in impor tance is conservation of child life. And these two overlap so regularly that it can be considered one subject to conserve child life and control communicable disease. This being the case, then it is natural that the health officer of a community is interested, because no other work is nearly so important. It is on this account that the Health Officer has demanded that this work be done in the schools and I am grateful for the present plan. And stated above, the reports of the next twelve months will prove the move to be an economic saving in health, life, finances and social welfare." as times to cure indifference on the part of the public. Humanity is prone to belittle disagreeable possibilities with the remark that such a thing is unlikely to happen' and that it is 'no use to cross the bridge until you get to it.' "In the case of rats it is an excellent plan to destroy them ruthlessly. Who can cite a single reason for the existence of the rat?" Two cases of poliomyelitis were reported last week, one from Chico and one from San Bernardino. Epidemic Encephalitis Vallejo reported one case of demic encephalitis last week. Bacillary Dysentery Tuolumne MALARIA MEASLES OPHTHALMIA NEONA- PARATYPHOID FEVER PNEUMONIA POLIOMYELITIS ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED (or Tick) FEVER SCARLET FEVER SMALLPOX SYPHILIS TETANUS *Reported by office number. Name and address not required. QUARANTINABLE DISEASES. CEREBROSPINAL MENIN- LEPROSY POLIOMYELITIS TYPHOID FEVER Section 16. Public Health Act. All physicians, nurses, clergymen, attendants, owners, proprietors, epi- managers, employees, and persons living in or visiting any sick person in any hotel, lodging house, house, building, office, structure, or other place where any person shall be ill of any infectious, contagious, or communicable disease, shall promptly report such fact to the county, city and county, city, or other local health board or health officer, together with the name is confined, and nature of the disease, if known. County reported five cases of bacillary dysentery last week.of the person. If known, and place where such person Entered as second-class matter February 21, 1922, at the post office at Sacramento, California, under the Vol. I, No. 26 AUGUST 12, 1922 GUY P. JONES EDITOR STATE EXPENDITURES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH half of the State Board of Health appropriation is paid directly to the counties in the form of subsidies for county tuberculosis hospitals. A very small portion of this tuberculosis appropriation is used by the State Board of Health for the administration of the tuberculosis subsidy. This amounts to 4.9 per cent of the total tuberculosis appropriation. The State Board of Health, instead of receiving direct benefit of one-third of the amount devoted to "regulative purposes," actually has at its disposal 16 per cent of the total appropriation under this title. The accompanying graphs are reproduced, with added detail, from the January, 1922, issue of "The American County." It will be noted that 4.2 per cent of the total appropriations and fixed charges for the 73d and 74th fiscal years, 1921-1923, apply to departments engaged in "regulative" work. An analysis of the expenditures of these departments is shown in the lower graph. It should be noted that although 33 per cent of these "regulative" appropriations are accredited to the State Board of Health, approximately one-I New Work on Obstetrical Nursing. Dr. Adelaide Brown recommends to nurses a new book on obstetrical nursing by Carolyn Conant Van Blarcom. Of this work Dr. Brown says: "This book marks an advance in nursing textbooks, and presents to the nursing world not a compilation from medical textbooks, but a practical discussion from study, observ ation and experience of the methods of ob stetrical nursing employed in private and hospital work. Principles of nursing, varieties of expression in technique to fulfill these principles are justly and intelligently presented. The mental hygiene of the pregnant condition is carefully analyzed and well discussed. The development of district nursing in obstetrical cases and the ever-increasing importance to be given to prenatal care and guidance of the prospective mother are both carefully described. The organization for prenatal work is presented in full detail. As the purposes of the Sheppard-Towner bill in fostering better maternal and infant care become better understood, the doctor, the hospital, and the nurse will each value and develop more fully the wonderful opportunity for health-education and health-standards that the interest of the parents in the new life gives. Miss Van Blarcom never loses sight of the privilege of contact with the mother and her new baby, and the great trust and responsibility the new family group is to both doctor and nurse. The care of the mother and baby is emphasized as a 'calling,' and this book will awaken in each nurse who reads and studies it an appreciation of her opportunity for service and education." Full Time Health Department for San Joaquin County. Weekly Radio Talks (Broadcasted from Station KUO, San Francisco, Wednesday, at 3 p.m.) WATCH FOR RABID DOGS. Rabies in animals, especially dogs, is unusually prevalent in California this summer. If bitten by a dog, it is important that the animal be locked up immediately and kept locked up for ten days. If the animal becomes sick, showing signs of paralysis, before the end of ten days, it should be killed and the head sent for examination in a sealed can to the State Hygienic Laboratory at Berkeley. Wounds from dog bites should cauterized immediately with nitric acid, and if the dog is believed to be rabid the Pasteur treatment should be started without delay. All cases of dog bite should be reported to the local health officer at once, in order that he may take action to prevent the spread of the disease. be Commerce, Lions' Club, Rotary Club and the Kiwanis Club all have memOther berships in this committee. individuals who are serving with this organization are J. S. Bordwell, C. H. Randall, W. G. Fraser, W. T. Henderson and Maurice Griffin. Dr. Walter M. Dickie, Secretary of the California State Board of Health, recently addressed members of Riverside's civic organizations, urging the establishment of a full time health department, the jurisdiction of which should cover all the rural and incorporated territory within the county. Make All Hospitals Fireproof. The Board of Supervisors of San Joaquin County, the City Commission of Stockton, the Rotary clubs, Dr. Wm. Friedberger, superintendent of the county hospital, and many other individuals are working zealously to secure the establishment of a full time health department, under which all of the health departments of incorporated cities in San Joaquin County shall be consolidated with the county health department. The district attorney, Edward Van Vranken, has been requested to draw up an A few weeks ago a nurse lost her ordinance putting the recommenda- life rescuing patients from a burning tions of the supervisors' special com- hospital in a construction camp in the mittee into effect. Dr. Friedberger mountains of California. Without any is enthusiastic over the establishment thought for herself, rigidly performof such a department and the move-ing her duty, she brought her patients ment is also receiving solid backing out of the flames to safety. in Lodi and other San Joaquin cities. should sick and helpless people be Why placed in a building where fire may Riverside Wants Full Time Health so easily occur and where its course may be so rapid? How long will Department. public opinion accept wooden strucRiverside is organized for securing tures within which to house the sick a full time health department for and helpless? Must we continue to Riverside County. A committee has take a toll of lives before we require been chosen of which Judge Hugh that hospitals shall exist only within H. Craig is chairman, and E. L. fireproof walls and under adequate Covey secretary. The Chamber of fire protection? Pasteur, the Great. Use of Common Towel Prohibited. Comparatively few public health Not only has the use of the comworkers know or realize the tremen- mon drinking utensil been prohibited dous debt that the world owes to by law, but also the placing of comLouis Pasteur for his remarkable con- mon towels in public places has been tributions, not only to public health made unlawful. This means that the and preventive medicine, but to com- common towel has been barred from merce and industry as well. The every hotel, restaurant, factory, store, story of Pasteur's life is full or dra- barber shop, office building, school, matic incidents. Public health work- public hall, railroad train, railway staers should be familiar with the bi- tion, boat, or any other public place, ography of this eminent scientist. In room or conveyance in California. France, the life of this great man has The use of the common towel is not been dramatized in a play called only an offense against common "Pasteur." M. Lucien Guitry, the decency, but it is also obvious that eminent French actor, has recently communicable diseases may be transopened his London season with this drama. Of this production the British Medical Journal says: mitted from one person to another by this means. If paper towels are provided, they must be used by one person only and immediately thrown It no doubt owes something to the suc-away. They should also be provided cessful production in this country of "Abra- in sufficient quantity to accommodate ham Lincoln," for both plays depict a great all persons who may desire to use man in selected scenes at different periods of his life. The author of "Pasteur" is M. them. Any infractions of this law Sacha Guitry, son of the actor, who admit- should be reported promptly to the tedly found his inspiration in Vallery-Radot's local health officer within whose terbiography of Pasteur, and designed the play especially to suit the talents of his dis ritory the infraction may be distinguished father. The first act shows Pas covered. teur in his study with his pupils at the outbreak of the war of 1870. In the second act there is a moving representation of a meeting of the Academy of Medicine, where Pasteur vigorously combats an attack upon his theories. In this scene the audience plays the part of the members of the Academy, with one or two actors speaking from the stalls. In the third act the boy Joseph Meister, who has been bitten by a mad dog, is brought to be inoculated by Pasteur, who sends for a doctor to perform the inoculation, for Pasteur himself held no medical qualification. The dramatist shows his art at the close of this act, for Pasteur, although he knows he can give no help, stays on all night in case something unexpected may happen. The scene changes in the fourth act to Pasteur's home in the country, where he is ill and on the verge of a breakdown; his friend the doctor tries to persuade him to take a rest, but Pasteur is deeply engaged in the study of epilepsy and can not tear himself away. Το him comes again Joseph Meister, now a youth, and a delightfully sympathetic scene ensues between the two. The last act is the crown of Pasteur's career, his reception by the presi; dent of the republic in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne, crowded by his friends, among whom is Lister, whose name is announced, although he does not actually appear on the scene. The play has no "love interest" and no female character, and follows no dramatic rules; it is practically a series of monologues, in which the actual words of Pasteur are often used, and its only unity is in the portrayal of its chief character. Every man should have some sort of play. What is play for one man may be work for man and woman should another, but every have a play hobby and should follow it enthusiastically-Dr. Donald B. Anderson. The "Florence Nightingale Pledge." "I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischevious, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drugs. I will do all in my power to elevate the standards of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping, and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care." It is one of the highest functions of the state to safeguard childhood and protect the public health, and the proper discharge of that function is not paternalistic. No child in the state should be handicapped by a remediable physical defect-Governor Miller, New York. If we could grapple with the whole child situation for one generation, our public health, our economic efficiency, the moral character, sanity and stability of our people would advance three generations in one.-Herbert Hoover. |