478 MAN CONTROLS HIS ENVIRONMENT FOR HEALTH 



SdtLcrteCit y 



since 1927 

 20.000 of thev 

 co.500 children 

 immunised 



The serum of the blood of these horses is then carefully tested 

 and is used to inoculate the patient suffering from or exposed to 

 diphtheria, and thus the disease is checked or prevented alto- 

 gether. The laboratories of boards of health prepare this antitoxin 

 and supply it fresh for public use. 



It has been found from experience in hospitals that deaths from 

 diphtheria are largely preventable by the early use of antitoxin. 

 It is therefore advisable, in a suspected case of diphtheria, to have 

 antitoxin used at once. 



Schick test and its value. By the Schick test it is possible to 

 determine if a person is immune to diphtheria. A very minute dose 



of diphtheria toxin 

 is injected under the 

 skin of the forearm. 

 If the person is im- 

 mune, no reaction 

 takes place, because 

 the blood is provided 

 with antitoxins. But 

 if the person is sus- 

 ceptible, some hours 

 later a slight red spot 

 appears where the 

 toxin was injected. 

 This is a danger 

 signal and shows that 

 the person would take 

 diphtheria if exposed to it. To such a person a treatment, known 

 as the toxin-antitoxin treatment, is given. Small amounts of a 

 mixture of diphtheria toxin and antitoxin are injected into the 

 susceptible person, with the result that he becomes immune by 

 a combination of active and passive immunity. This treatment 

 has been tried with thousands of school children in the city of New 

 York, with the result that the death rate from diphtheria dropped 

 lower than before its use. 



The following clipping from a New York paper indicates the 

 progress made in wiping out this dread disease. 



1902 - 1922 1924 '25 '26 27 '2S '29 30 

 reportecC Cases 165 199 269 297 86 60 23 



200 



How does this diagram show the value of giving children toxin- 

 antitoxin to prevent diphtheria ? 



