DIPHTHERIA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 17 September 1925, Page 8

DIPHTHERIA.

1 REMEDY AVAILABLE. I N(KJCLAT'ION OF CHILDREN. Some interesting remarks concerning llio conquest of diphtheria- were made at die Wellington Rotary Club luncheon by Dr. P. P. Lynch, -bacteriologist and- pathologist at the • Wellington Hospital. A,liter quoting figures to prove that the average of diphtheria cases in New Zealand lor 1922,' 1923, and 1924 was about 2000, with, a mortality of 80, and stating that it ' attacked children of tender years mainly, Dr. Lynch spoke of early nulxconceptions in regard to die disease. About 18(50 microscopical examinations of the disease taken from the throats of children were made in Vienna. That -wais' the beginning of the finding of the casual 0-rgianiism. There Was no thought then -that -the disease was- due to a isort o f biatoteniia. An assistant of Robert Cox • showed that the germs of the disease could be ieprodu'eed and propagated apart from the human body. When people who had died of the disease were examined, the bacteria was found only in the throat, and was not widespread ,in the body. Apart from the germ 'itself there were certain very'dangerous poisons which' affected the body' in 'diphtheria, cases oftentimes resulting in death. In 1897 a-ri antirtox-in was •discovered which rendered animals inoculated with it immune from diphtheria very quickly. Human' beings were rendered immune w-ithin three or four weeks after inoculation, ’find diphtheria, is now no longer the' terror that it was to thepreviousl generation. The next point discovered was that certain, children were altogether immune from diphtheria; they had a natural anti-toxin in their -bo-dies that could prevent them! getting the disease. Whether or no children had this antitoxin. iu them was easily provable' by a test. In was -possible so to treat children that- they might be rendered immune from, diipliblierita by inoculation. This was done' to thousands' of children in itbe United States and in England. There w-as really no reason why these 80 children in New Zealand -should die‘when the remedy was aifc-hand.’All children -from six -months' upwards, to the age of going -to .School. should be .treated with anti-toxin.