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Page 4 The Health Bulletin April, 1956 reported last year, when the total number of live births was 116,206. Before leaving this field, let us note one other extremely interesting comparison. In 1914, with the number of live births previously referred to, maternal deaths numbered 524, that is, there were that many deaths resulting from pregnancy and childbirth. Last year, when there were more than 116,-000 live births reported in North Carolina, only 100 mothers laid down their lives. We shall not go into the causes for this phenomenal decline, the broad reason for which has been the more affective application of the principles of preventive medicine. Compulsory Immunization Nearly two decades ago the legislature of North Carolina passed a law requiring the immunization of children against diphtheria during the first year of life. How has this worked? We still are thinking in terms of preventive medicine. In 1916, when our babies and small children were wide open to attack by this disease, 410 died. In comparison with this, there were only four diphtheria deaths reported in North Carolina in 1955. During 1939, when the immunization law was passed, there were 164 deaths among our children, resulting from diphtheria. The decline since that date has been steady, with only one flare-up. That was in 1945. Despite the fact that this law may not have been enforced as it should have, we have seen the results previously referred to. It would seem therefore, that enforcement is becoming more universal. Whooping cough is another childhood disease which is being brought under control by preventive medicine. Compulsory immunization against this disease is required by a law passed in 1945. During that year, there were 97 whooping cough deaths reported in North Carolina. By 1953 the total had been reduced to seven, while only ten whooping cough deaths were reported in 1954; but, in 1955, for some reason, there were 32. Whooping cough, as all of us know, occurs in cycles. Even be- fore the immunization law was passed, it had become preventable, and many parents were resorting to immunization as a means of protecting their children. It might be well to state, in this connection, that if whooping cough had not been known to be preventable, the State Board of Health would never have sponsored a law requiring immunization. Public health never considers an experiment. Any preventive agent must have proved itself before it is either adopted or advocated by those who are charged with the mass protection of our people. Another disease that has been successfully attacked through the use of new drugs in pneumonia. There was a time when all a patient and his attending physician could do was to await "the crisis" and, when that was successfully passed, to administer, perhaps, some stimulant and pray that the patient was on the road to recovery. It is not customary to mention "remedies" in a discussion of this nature, but we do know that, through the use of certain drugs which can be prescribed only by physicians, pneumonia infection often can be cleared up within a comparatively short time. During 1955 influenza and the various types of pneumonia resulted in 1,203 deaths in North Carolina. That was a large number, to be sure. But what about what many call "the good old days?" In 1916 there were 2,517 pneumonia deaths reported to the North Carolina State Board of Health. In 1918, the year of our biggest flu epidemic, there were 4,210. As late as 1934 pneumonia deaths totaled 3,173. Since the discovery of certain antibiotics, deaths have been on the decline during most years. However, statistics show that this disease is not entirely whipped, by a long way. In 1955 there were only 11 polio deaths reported in North Carolina, compared with 23 the previous year. The largest number ever reported was 143 in 1948, when we had our biggest epidemic. While polio is a dreadful disease and its crippling effects are very distressing, in many instances, it is a small killer compared with accidents
Object Description
Rating | |
Fixed Title * | NCHH-04: The Health Bulletin [1914-1973] |
Document Title | The Health Bulletin [1914-1973] |
Subject Topical | Public health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Subject Topical Other | Public Health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Contributor | North Carolina. State Board of Health. |
Publisher | Raleigh, North Carolina State Board of Health. |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1956 |
Identifier | NCHH-04-071 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 71 |
Health Discipline | Public Health |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-04/nchh-04-071.pdf |
Document Sort | all; group-b; nchh-04 |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-04-071 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-04 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb1296443 |
Description
Fixed Title * | Page 4 |
Document Title | The Health Bulletin [1914-1973] |
Subject Topical | Public health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Subject Topical Other | Public Health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Contributor | North Carolina. State Board of Health. |
Publisher | Raleigh, North Carolina State Board of Health. |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1956 |
Identifier | NCHH-04-071-0026 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Page Type | all; article |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Filename | healthbulletinse71nort_0026.jp2 |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 71 |
Issue Number | 3 |
Page Number | 4 |
Health Discipline | Public Health |
Full Text | Page 4 The Health Bulletin April, 1956 reported last year, when the total number of live births was 116,206. Before leaving this field, let us note one other extremely interesting comparison. In 1914, with the number of live births previously referred to, maternal deaths numbered 524, that is, there were that many deaths resulting from pregnancy and childbirth. Last year, when there were more than 116,-000 live births reported in North Carolina, only 100 mothers laid down their lives. We shall not go into the causes for this phenomenal decline, the broad reason for which has been the more affective application of the principles of preventive medicine. Compulsory Immunization Nearly two decades ago the legislature of North Carolina passed a law requiring the immunization of children against diphtheria during the first year of life. How has this worked? We still are thinking in terms of preventive medicine. In 1916, when our babies and small children were wide open to attack by this disease, 410 died. In comparison with this, there were only four diphtheria deaths reported in North Carolina in 1955. During 1939, when the immunization law was passed, there were 164 deaths among our children, resulting from diphtheria. The decline since that date has been steady, with only one flare-up. That was in 1945. Despite the fact that this law may not have been enforced as it should have, we have seen the results previously referred to. It would seem therefore, that enforcement is becoming more universal. Whooping cough is another childhood disease which is being brought under control by preventive medicine. Compulsory immunization against this disease is required by a law passed in 1945. During that year, there were 97 whooping cough deaths reported in North Carolina. By 1953 the total had been reduced to seven, while only ten whooping cough deaths were reported in 1954; but, in 1955, for some reason, there were 32. Whooping cough, as all of us know, occurs in cycles. Even be- fore the immunization law was passed, it had become preventable, and many parents were resorting to immunization as a means of protecting their children. It might be well to state, in this connection, that if whooping cough had not been known to be preventable, the State Board of Health would never have sponsored a law requiring immunization. Public health never considers an experiment. Any preventive agent must have proved itself before it is either adopted or advocated by those who are charged with the mass protection of our people. Another disease that has been successfully attacked through the use of new drugs in pneumonia. There was a time when all a patient and his attending physician could do was to await "the crisis" and, when that was successfully passed, to administer, perhaps, some stimulant and pray that the patient was on the road to recovery. It is not customary to mention "remedies" in a discussion of this nature, but we do know that, through the use of certain drugs which can be prescribed only by physicians, pneumonia infection often can be cleared up within a comparatively short time. During 1955 influenza and the various types of pneumonia resulted in 1,203 deaths in North Carolina. That was a large number, to be sure. But what about what many call "the good old days?" In 1916 there were 2,517 pneumonia deaths reported to the North Carolina State Board of Health. In 1918, the year of our biggest flu epidemic, there were 4,210. As late as 1934 pneumonia deaths totaled 3,173. Since the discovery of certain antibiotics, deaths have been on the decline during most years. However, statistics show that this disease is not entirely whipped, by a long way. In 1955 there were only 11 polio deaths reported in North Carolina, compared with 23 the previous year. The largest number ever reported was 143 in 1948, when we had our biggest epidemic. While polio is a dreadful disease and its crippling effects are very distressing, in many instances, it is a small killer compared with accidents |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-04/nchh-04-071.pdf |
Document Sort | all; group-b; nchh-04 |
Article Title | Life and Death in 1955 |
Article Author | Richardson, William H. |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-04-071 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-04 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb1296443 |
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