University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

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Illighiing fllilaluriu NLY during the last few years have we realiz- ed that we must fight the mosquito in order to rid our land of malaria. The more efficient the battlefwe wage, the greater the profit, for each victory means a saving of time, labor, and doctor's bills. The mosquito is the only means that the ma- larial parasites have of getting from one person to another. From this we see that if all the mosquitoes were killed there would be no more malaria. Since this seems impossible in this warm country, we must prevent the mosquito from securing and carrying the parasites. Preventive work can be done in two ways- Smith COUHW The first is to kill or hinder the growth of the mos- quito. To do this, all boxes, cans, trash piles, brush, bushes, weeds and grass, which serve as sheltering places for the mosquito during the heat of the day, must be destroyed. W. E. JOHNSON Second, all the breeding places, such as rain barrels, cans, cisterns, reservoirs, stagnant pools,'lakes, ponds and marshes must be drained. Those places that cannot be drained should be oiled. Enough oil to put every two weeks a thin coat on the surface of the water will not cost much and it more than pays for itself when we consider how many malarial carriers it kills by preventingthe little wiggle-tails from getting air. Those placffs that can be neither oiled nor drained should have fish put in them. The fish will eat arvae. A third method in the extermination of malaria is that of screening our doors and windows. Any medium sized home can be screened for less than S40 and the screen will at the same time serve a second purpose, that of keeping out the most dangerous of all man's enemies, the house fly. Since the mosquito must first be infected before infecting others, it would not be necessary to prevent malaria if we should prevent this infection. The waysin which this can be done are: First, keep the malarial patient in a screened house: second, see that the patient is absolutely free from malarial organisms. After a person has become infected with malarial parasites, the following treat- ment has been recommended by the Hygiene Department of the Mississippi Normal College: Free purgation in the beginning is neccessary to make the after treatment more effective. Quinine given in 5-grain doses, every 2 hours until 20 grains have been taken-best results are obtained when the quinine is given throughout the night, and the effect of the quinine is not so uncomfortable. It is said that the organisms are weaker in the dark and therefore respond more readily to the poisonous effects of quinine. The quinine treatment should be continued a much longer time than is usually done, at least thirty grains a week for a period of six weeks. If every person affected with ma- laria would persist in taking quinine for the required length of time, Mississippi would soon have to import this disease from other states. It may seem that fighting malaria is not a very proiitable business to those con- cernedg but when we realize that our state lost over 33,000,000 due to malariain the year 1915, as shown by statistics, each one should strive to do his partin the prevention work. As a result there will be a conservation of great economic values to our state. W. E. JOHNSON. 22

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Uhr Brutal Qllinir nf the Nnrmal Qlnllrgr H E Mississippi Normal College inline with the spirit of the times, organized this session a Dental Clinic. The Forrest County Dental Society consists of four dentists who are giving their assistance free of charge to the Normal College physician to assist her in giving the Diploma Hygiene Class demonstra- RENA HUGHES Wgbster County tions in oral hygiene. One of the dentists comes to the college once every two Weeks, and examines the teeth of the children of the Practice School and of the Arnold Line School, a near by rural school, where extension work is being done in hygiene by the Normal College physician. He makes the examinations before the Diploma Hygiene Class, and gives the children a practical and interesting talk on cause, the prevention, and the results of decay in the teeth. The dentists ap- proach the children by different means every time they talk. In one talk, the dentist illustrated the effects of a decayed tooth on the sound teeth next to it by a big sound apple and an apple that had been bruised and was decayed. Such object lessons make his talks much more interesting to the children. With the apples before them, they understand a great deal better what he is saying about the teeth and can see the reason for this decay in the teeth. The members of the Diploma Hygiene Class make engagements and chaperone these children to the dentist's office, Where the repair Work is done and the teeth cleaned: and a tooth brush is given to each child. The generous co-operation of the Forrest County Dental Society in giving their service free of charge to this educational and philanthropic Work will bring great re- sults. We student teachers in training at the Normal College get not only valuable in- formation but practical experience in this important branch of health Work so sadly neglected in rural communities. RENA HUGHES. 21

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Gln-nprratiun nf Harrni, Iliamilg lghgairian ann Efwrhvr fur ililrhirnl Zlnapvrtinu EDICAL inspection is an extension of the activities of the school in which the teacher, physician and parent join hands to safeguard the child from diseaseg to render him healthy, happy and vigorous, and to insure for him the vitality that will best enable him to take full advantage of the free education offered him by the State. Medical inspection is founded upon the inti- EVAN E LONG mate relationship between the physical and mental Clarke County conditions of the child, and the consequent depend- ence of education upon health conditions. The medical inspector, or county health ofliccr, visits all the schools regu- larly throughout his jurisdiction and examines the children for physical defects. He discovers the trouble while the child is yet young: and he and the teacher discuss it with the parents, who promptly have their child treated and by so doing ward off a disease that threatens his life, or an infirmity that will hamper his usefulness. A surprising number of children will be found to be defective in eyesight and as a result are seriously handicapped in their school Work. Many will be found to have defective hearing, decayed teeth, adenoids, enlarged tonsils and glands of the neck, hookworm, or other physical defects which have a great and formerly unrecognized in- fluence on the Welfare, happiness, and mental vigor of the child. The Normal College has medical inspection in general, both of the Practice School and College students. Every student, both of the Practice School and the College proper is examined for hookvvorm, adenoids, defective eyesight, tonsilitis, and other defects. Dental inspection is one of the most important phases of medical inspection. First in Germany, next in England, and more recently in the United States, dental in- spection has been inaugurated, and school dental clinics established. The Normal Col- lege has a dental clinic that is doing a great deal for the children of the Practice School and for the education of the college students in oral hygiene. Aside from the practical benefit to the children who are not normal physically, the medical inspector is of untold value to the teacher and the parent educationally through his lectures, his conferences, and his supervision in matters of health and pre- vention of disease. The cooperation of three forces means for a community an awaken- ed civic consciousness, and a clean wholesome life. EVAN E. LONG. 23