NO DANGER SEEN

Chronicle (Levin), 17 May 1947, Page 4

NO DANGER SEEN

Sanatorium Wjll Npt Ajfect Public Health He could state definitely that there would be no danger to public ifpalth by the establishment of a tubbf culosis ' sahafprjiHipd *?» ;qny town. The great danger of infectipn lay pqt mth patients in sanatoriums, but with the unknbwn alnd untreated suff erers walking the spreets at the present time. They constituted the greajker menace ari^ were knotwn to pxisf in large numijiers in 'evpry tpwn.' 1 « This was the opihion expressed by tjqe Me.dical Superintendent of tjie 6ta,kT Sanatorium, Dr. T. M. WHsph, whqn speaking on Thursaa'y" "hight* ' ' to' " iiieMibierk O'f * * the Levin Junior Chamber of Commerce. *''Dr:'."wn'iS6n"'wa"s the "guest speaker at the chamber's weekly. lunchebh; ' Uhd " "he" ' had been expressly requested to help allay a fear current ip Levin that the erectipn of a s'anatoYiqni' Ih v tihis 'p'oyvp. w'ould constitut'e"a dknger 'to ptiblic health. * It was indicated by the presid.ent, Mr. D. 3. Sweetzer, that the .chamber was anxious to. h'ave thb a^surance of authoritative" medical men on this point before embark: ijig on a campaign to ensi^rp thp 3'iting of the sanatorium ip thfs town. -With that purpo.sp in' npnd, i't had invited members bf the Levin Borough COUnCil, Mr. M. H. Oram, , M.P. for Manawatu, and Mr. J- J- Maher, M.P. for Otaki, to bjs present. ^ ' Before introducing the speaker, Mr. , Sweetzer welcomed rppresentatives of the council,* Messrs. W. Telford, C. Sherwood, D. J". Gardiner and Miss H. E. Bowen. Apologies, he said, ha.d beep received from Mr. Oram and tlie Mayor, Mr. H. B. Bupdekih, jaqth. of whom were unable to' Iqp pres"ent. Mr. Oram had wrjtten to say that fjqe Levin Juniof "Chamber could make a public statement that h'e : Was ' wrfoleheartedly behind the project, and that it cofiid c.oupt oh him fqr swfip.ort., Patients Selected Patients for the sanatorium \yould be of a selected group, said Dr. Wilson during the coprse oj. his address. They wpuld klmost without pxc.eptibp nqnipfectious cases. The cases "set aside for sanatorium 'freatmcht had been cgught ip the parly stages and, fbllowing- treatmeht in general hospitals, wgre put ip these institutions to assist1 therri back to normal health by the pasic principles of treatment, mainly mental and * pjiysicar rpst. "Ne^r c'opfgqt wifti pafi.ents during these stages was not dangerous, providlng "car6"* was 't'akenr " All" the patients were.trained to take car.e 5f ' themselves, and all were anxrohs not to be instrumental in the spjrea,ping of the illness to their 'f riends 'and' otjijsrs They were ' ail taught how not' to affect others. - This was borne out in the low incidehce of the illness ampng the sanatorium staffs, " * cphJ;inued', pr. VVilson. One* "woul'd naturaliy expect nursos and doctors who Were daily iri close contact with patients to contact the illness, yet in 10 to 12 years there Iqad been no cases anqorfg the staff at the Otaki institution, though there Yyere girLs in the susceptible groups treating patients continually. Relatives of patients oftqn lived in fhp enviroppfent "of institutions, and numerWs families had been reared tjiqrp,'' ypt fhere had been no spreaiTof tlie disease to those homes. He referred to a f axpous ins jitute in Britain, where patients npt quite 'fit were given occupatiops in "work1 skops, factories anp farpis, and ^ere otherwise eaiming wages and [eading normal lives in those environments, yet among those .f^milies no casqs qf the disgasp 'kkd been reportedi A'f " Where Danger Lies i The danger lay in close contact With persons who Wprp unkpowirigly spreading the germ's,' said pf. Wilson. They were the men^ce. There were dpubfless mqpy in Levin walking the st'reets eyery pay, expectorating on the pavements and thus spreading "the. germs to children. They were a far great(er' dapger than those known patients" "Wlio wefe cared j'or within a tpjyn. Replying tq" a qpestiqn as tp Whether restaurants, haif dressing gstablishments and public convqniences in the town, if used by patiehfs from a sanatorium, would be a means of spreading the infection, Dr: Wilson said that he 'could not say there was no pi.sk- Hq pointdd' out', however,"-' that mahy ijnknown yet advanced suff erers rrom tuberculosis were using those facilities daily. ' Sanafprjpm patients would, 'alrnost withput exception, 'be non-infectious. Those who had reached a M.agS jyhere they were permitted to eome into a town would most cer£ainly be, otherwise they would pot be allowed ppj;. " ' Public Hygiene That there was room for a congiderable improvement in tjhie ^t^te qf hygiene in restaurants apd other public eating houses, was^efephasj|ed by D|r. Wi|spij. A secqnt suryey of a cross sectiop' of ' eating houses, "high class hotels and ciubs |p London had brought for^h dis-; quieting yesults. Sapiples taken of Washihg 'up water had" latep been proved to contain the same pacterial content as Cpjain untreated ^ewerage." ' 1 " " ' The most satisjactqry reppct Was from Watef'ffom a 'festaurant ip a departm,enta.l store, where a mechanical dish" washer was ipstalled and the plates dried in q heated oven. ' At the conclusion of the address,

a vote of thanks was accorded Dr. Wilsb'n, and, speaking on behalf of the councillors present, Mr. Gardiner also extended his thanks, stating that they were leaving the mpetiiig considerably enlighten'ed • apd assured in their minds that nothing could be feared from tlie establishment;. of . a tuberculo§is sanatorium irf'Levin. "We have" a gbod caqse tb flght for, and now that* you have cleared the air of the bogey of infection, we will go ahead in conjunction with the Lqvin Chamber of Comriierpe and fight for the building of the institution in this town." When thanking Dr. Wilson, on behalf of the chamber, Mr. J. p. Gordon, said that had an adverse report been forthcoming, and it had beeh 'proved that the institution's presence would- be detriiheptal,' his organisation would not have gone 011 with its camp.aign. They would now, with the assistance bf other organisations, fight to achieve their objective. • Decentralisation Necessary He was a firm believer in the decentralisation «f hospitals and industry, said Mr. J. J. M.ah.ei:, M.P., when addressing the meetip'g. It was jmp.ortant that they be taken into the country to the fresher air. Fresh produce and rpilk was essential for hospijtal patients, and he would like to sbe these institutions taken out bf the cities to the country, where land could be found for the establishment of gardens for the growing of produce for the patients. : Mr. - Maher congratulated the chamber on the energetic manner ih which it was supporting the siting of the tuberculosis sahatprium fn Levin. The first ind'icatibh he had had of the institiitiqn was through tjiq press. fie had iii'spe'cted the proposed site a'nd bfelieyed that from ail aspects it w,q§ very suitable. It was an unwritten law — one that he had * (eq,rnt the last caubus-— th'at ohe must not interfere with another piap"s electorate. This buildihg, however, vitaliy affected the Otaki electorate as well. In this mattpr he yjould work in coL'operaion wij;h Mr. Oram, M.P. for Manawatu, and together they would do eyerythipg they could to induce fh.e - ^pthorities ' to "acquire this very desirable site."