OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 310, 24 September 1921, Page 5

OUR BABIES

(By

"Hygeia.")

Publiched nnder the auspices of tho Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." A DANGKROTifI NETCJIBOUR: THE HOUSE FLY. The following is the conclusion of the report o’ Dr. Ch-miptalonp s lecture, the first pars jf which was given last week FLIES AS CARRIERS OF MICROBES. Dr. Champtnloup gave several vemarknhlo proofs of the V'an.smission of na - teria. by flies, and eaid that Dr. bash, in his annual report for 1909, sunimanscc the nosition as follows:— “With logs, bodies, and intestines laden with putrefactive perms, these flies in ™e fly season swarm all over all exposed too , drown themselves in cverj r uncovered 11 g or CUP of mi’ll, range over every tin of condensed milk or piece of ingar which thev can alight, each fly contriimting its onof.a of generally unknown anti often unmentionable filth, polluting human food to such an extent a a in a short time to convert emne of it from a wholesome food to a virulently dangerous polH<> next showed two slides illustrating plainly what happened when a house ny with dirty feet walked over foodstuff on which bacteria con’d grow. The first snow, cd a Petriplatc filled with nutrient gelatine unon whion a Imiise fl.v just from a dish of dirty water was allowed to wander for. a moment. The nlate was covered and act in a warm, nla-oe for th™ o dnvs. Wherever the fly’s feet touched rplatine, and where the hody drafted, the bacteria erow. The tracks of the wandering 1 fly were marked in colonies of b'vinr (bacteria, many thousands in. each. The other rlide showed a somewhat similar condition, though accidentally produced. Dr. Champtaloup proceeded to discuss some disease bacteria which flies carry and the diseases they give rise to. Amon? these were tuberculosis ano various parasitic diseases. MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS. One authority stated that in the United •States of America there died annually 49.CC0 babies under two years of ape as a result of intestinal affections due to files. Tn many of the large towns of Great Britain the infantile mortality per annum was from 100 to 150 or more per 10CO babies born, and infantile diarrhoea played a larpp nart» in this enormous waste o! child life. On comparing the figures for New Zealand during the Last ten yearn we find that- the average proportion of deaths of infants under one year of ago to every 1000 birth was 71.9. This was nine years ago; the last five years the average has be°n under 50 per 100, while England and Wales was 109. a, markec* difference in bur favour, and an Indication of the better sanitary conditions under which we live. Of the total deaths under one year of age in New Zealand during tho years of 1906-1910, 19.8. or nearly RO per cent., were due to diarrhoea, these figures by no means indicating the actual number of persons attacked. Typhoid fever wan a disease upon which much investigation had been made in its relation to flics, and that insect had been found guilty up to the hilt. The excessive death rate in the camps of the American soldiers during tho 6nan!sh-AmerL can did more than anything else to call attention to tho importance of the fly as a distributor of the uerras of typhoid. Fortunately, we now had a means of prophylatic in lection against typhoid which had already - very considerably reduced both the attack and death rate among our soldiers in India. It would be unwise, however, to state that the fly was the chief source of the spread of typhoid, cholera, and dysentery and diarrhoea, until we had facts definitely proving it. The fly was certainly a factor, but proof had yet to be brought that it was the chief factor. DESTRUCTION OF FLIES. The last section of the .address briefly dealt with some of the means for the destruction of the house fly and its haunts, la the essential matter cf cleanliness compulsory legislation and inspection could play only a part in. prevention. ’ Other facts must bo the education of the public in matters of general guaitary knowledge and in the importance of breast-feeding and proper care of food, to which their society was paying so much, attention with such excellent results. In educative measures particular attention should be directed to the school child in Inculcating knowledge of matters bearing on household cleanliness. (Applause.) Attention should be given to frequent removal of all accumulations of dirt, dust or manure. All refuse should bo stored pending removal in properly-constructed covered cans. All foodstuffs, particularly milk, should bo protected from contamination by fine or other substance. In conclusion, the lecturer several effective fly-traps and fly-poisons. He sat down amid hearty and prolonged applause.