BARE AND FATAL DISEASE

Evening Star, Issue 21724, 19 May 1934, Page 14

BARE AND FATAL DISEASE

GIRL DIES FROM RAY FUNGUS GRASS OR STRAW CHEWING A CAUSE [Per United Press Association.] CHRISTCHURCH, May 19. A ten-year-old girl who contracted the. disease of actinomycosis, more generally known as ray fungus, died in Christchurch Public Hospital on Thursday after many months of illness. This is a rare disease, for which no certain remedy can be applied. Medical authorities state that it is in almost all cases fatal. A boy died from the dieases in Auckland last February. Dr A. B. Pearson, pathologist at Christchurch Public Hospital, said one or two cases of ray fungus occurred in Christchurch each year. The disease was not necessarily attributable to the chewing of grass or straw, although this was undoubtedly a cause of infection. Generally th*e cause was very difficult to trace. Frequently its exact nature was revealed _ only under bacteriological examination. The disease might be contracted through some small break in the mucous membrane of the mouth, or it might be inhaled into the lungs.