BANISH DSPTHERIA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 289, 7 December 1939, Page 8

BANISH DSPTHERIA

(Contributed by the Department of Health.) Diphtheria is a serious disease al any age, but is a particularly dangerous disease of childhood. Fortunately, it is now possible to protect from diphtheria in the same way as vaccination protects against smallpox. This may be done by giving a child practically painless injections of a vaccine which confers, with few exceptions, protection against diphtheria. Thousands of our New Zealand children have been so treated with beneficial results. Their lives have been safeguarded against a dangerous enemy. Every child should be protected against diphtheria. The first protective injection should be administered in early life, as diphtheria is a particularly serious hazard for pre-school children. The treatment may be carried out by the family doctor. Where ‘this arrangement is not practicable and parents wish to secure immunity against diphtheria for their children, they are advised to apply to the local medical officer of health or the school medical officer for the district, when arrangements will be made to have preventive treatment carried out free of charge. Medical science has at its command all necessary weapons tor a successful fight against diphtheria. Nearly every parent or guardian will be willing to do their part in safeguarding the children of New Zealand against this menace to their life and health. The case for diphtheria immunisation is strongly emphasised in the latest report of the Medical Research Council of Great Britain in the following words:— “Parents would be well advised, therefore, to demand this prophylactic inoculation, not only for their o*/n children but for all children. There seems no room for doubt that the general adoption of diphtheria prophylaxis would cause the virtual disappearance of the disease from the country. The family tragedies, the high public expense and the waste of medical effort caused in Great Britain by diphtheria call for a united effort.”