HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 13773, 16 October 1942, Page 2

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

THE TUBERCULIN TEST (By the Health Department) One of the most effective ways medical science has discovered of tracking down- tuberculosis is the tuberculin test, a simple and painless process that tells whether or not a person has tuberculosis infection. A specially prepared fluid is injected into the arm. Two days later there may be a raised spot, slightly coloured, and rather like a mosquito bite, at the site of the injection. That means that the test is positive. The spot is a warning signal—it shows that the body has been invaded by tuberculosis germs (the disease is infectious, not hereditary), and that possibly normal resistance has overcome them. In other Avords, the invaders have been surrounded by healthy body tissue and kept immobile. They are not by any means dead. They are merely Availing for the body tissue around them to Aveaken, and then they break out and flood the lung. Most people, by the time they reach adult years, have been infected by the tuberculosis germ, and by keeping themselves healthy have been able to avoid trouble. If lioav, ever, a persona vitality is lowered through any cause, then his immunity might cease, and another case of tuberculosis added to the already unhappily long list in this country. Common causes of lowered vitality are: OverAvork, overstudy, too little sleep, improper diet, insufficient food, and excesses of any sort. A negative tuberculin test shOAVs that no germs are present. It is frequently encountered in young children, and for that reason the test should be repeated at intervals. It is important to bear in mind that tuberculosis is curable if it is discovered and treated early enough. The tuberculin test is the initial step.