"STATE OF FUNK"

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 58, 6 September 1937, Page 8

"STATE OF FUNK"

■ ■ ■■■; v~ —^^ 7. ■ ■. •■■•■■ ■ ■■ ACTION BY N.S.W. THE INFANTILE EPIDEMIC DOCTOR CONDEMNS PANIC (From "The Post's" Representative.) ■SYDNEY, August' 27..'•> * New South Wales has become thoroughly ' alarmed by the continued spread and increased incidence of the infantile paralysis epidemic in ViCr toria. Its-fear was deepened by•• the death . from: the disease of a Brisbane youth who had come in contact with Victorian tourists, and by the death of an adult and the- infection of another at widely-separated centres on the New South Wales north coast. ....-■ -.'■:.. ■■■.. The New South Wales fatal case was that of George Irvine, an elderly farmer, and health authorities; are puzzled by the source of- infection:;,. He had not left the district forborne years and had not come in Contact with, any visitors fron/Vkstoria. His death from the disease' was. the.first in.the State this year. '' . ■■■ .'.. ■. :■•'■ '^..i ■:■'■■ , ' -. • 'Calm reflection seems to indicate.that the" people of, New South Wales, influenced 'no doubt by the sensationalism of newspaper pressure, is .headed' toward? unfounded panic. The State Government at: first'treated the Victorian epidemic calmly. Then,'under newspaper pressure and perhaps with a.tinge of the:old interstate jealousy, It took certain steps which did lip t help to keep the public in a happy frame of mind. It applied to ■. the Federal Government to have Victoria declared a quarantined area. The Federal Government, somewhat abruptly, declined to do so, saying it would be "a harsh and ineffective action," and pointed out that New South Wales had power to issue health regulations which would ensure" its. protection: "OUT OF BOUNDS." • Then, with great ado, and undue_ publicity, the New South Wales Government set about passing an amendment of the Public Health Act, giving power to declare any area "in or beyond the State" an infected area if a communicable disease has existed tttere within the previous three months. The entry of persons under the age of 16 years into New. South Wales from an infected area outside the State is prc-| hibited, but it is not proposed to ban adults so long as the Victorian epidemic remains in ...its present state. Certificates from responsible, persons will 'enable the entry of. children- providing the latter have not been in contact' with patients or .'attended schools affected by the disease",within a month previously. Victoria lias, been placed "out of bunds" for New -South Wales school teachers now on vacation. Victoria will probably resent these steps, but it is doubtful if it will go to the extent of testing their validity. At the same time there is quite.a considerable opinion that the New South Wales legislation might conflict with the contentious section 92 of the Federal Constitution providing that trade, commerce, and "intercourse" between the States must be'"absolutely free. ' ' . A warning about panic was issued by Dr. J. Grahame Drew, the Sydney metropolitan officer of health. He said that during the last 24 years there were 2315 cases of infantile paralysis in New South Wales and 307 deaths, whereas in the same period there were 116,336 cases of diphtheria and 4978 deaths. The tendency to raise infantile paralysis, in the minds of the public, to the status of diphtheria was wrong. Fear increased the susceptibilities of the people to the disease, for nothing more effectively lowered the resistance of the human being.than a state of "funk." Anything that could be done to strengthen the minds of the public against the disease.would play its part in combating it.