Health Report:
Children’s Diseases
As compared with the conditions pre
vailing ten years ago, more than 15,000
lives were saved in the United States
during 1951 and 1952 by the reduction
in mortality from the common child
hood diseases, according to the statisti
cians of the Metropolitan Life Insur
ance Company.
Measles, whooping cough, diphtheria
and scarlet fever were responsible for
3,400 deaths in the past two years, in
stead of the 19,000 which would have
occurred if the rates of only a decade
ago had continued unchanged.
About half of the savings in lives is
accounted for by reduced mortality from
whooping cough alone, for which both
the reported cases and deaths are at
all-time low levels. The improvement
is attributed primarily to the increased
use of immunization against the disease
in early infancy.
The rate of cases of illness from meas
les, which is by far the most prevalent
of the childhood diseases, has declined
only 13 per cent since 1940-1941, but
the death rate has been reduced by 55
per cent. Part of the decline in very
recent years, according to the statisti
cians, is due to the use of gamma
globulin to provide passive immunity in
infants and sick children exposed to the
disease.
Diphtheria still causes several hun
dred deaths each year in the United
Serves In Japan
Lawrence DeHart, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Walker DeHart, of Draper is now
stationed with an an
ti-aircraft unit at
Johnson Air Base, in
Japan. He at one
time worked in the
Bleaching Dept, at
the Bleachery but
was attending Feree’s
Art School in Raleigh
when he was called
into service in April
1953. His father
works in Blanket Mill supply room and
his mother, Lorene, is employed in
Sheet Folding Dept, at the Bleachery.
Under Better Control
States, although both the case rate and
the death rate have decreased more than
80 per cent in the past 10 years. An in
creasing proportion of the diphtheria
deaths is occurring at adult ages, though
even at these ages too the death rate has
been reduced.
“An important factor in the marked
progress against the childhood diseases
has been the control of secondary com
plications through the use of the sulfa
drugs and the antibiotics,” the statis
ticians observe. “Another major factor
is believed to be the better resistance by
infants and children as a result of their
greatly improved health and nutrition.”
Despite the current low level of fata
lities from these diseases, the statisti
cians foresee that further substantial re
duction can be achieved through early
immunization of all children against
whooping cough and diphtheria, and the
wider use of gamma globulin among in
fants exposed to measles.
FOLKS YOU KNOW
DeHart
Lucille
Eleven Months Old
Lucille A m i n t a
Stanley, eleven
months old when the
picture was made, is
the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Herbert
Stanley, Ridgeway
Road. Her daddy is
employed in the Bed-
j spread Dyeing Dept,
and grandfather,
James W. Long,
works in the Bed-
Stanley spread Card Room.
Jack Webster has been a knitter at
the Hosiery Mill for nearly 10 years.
He is a native of Montgomery County
and grew up at Martinsville. He moved
to Fieldale when he married a local
girl, the former Miss Margaret Shart-
zer, the daughter of R. C. Shartzer,
formerly a loomfixer at the Towel Mill.
Jack served in the Navy during World
War II. He is a member of the Ameri
can Legion Post at Fieldale and attends
the Baptist Church. Bird hunting is his
favorite sport. He owns his home and
has a son, Jackie, four months old. His
wife is former Hosiery employee.
Fieldcrest Show
Employees are invited to
Fieldcrest radio program at 3 p- ®'
Sunday over WLOE in LeaksviU®
WMVA in Martinsville.
Test your wits in naming the
tune. Separate cash prizes ar®. ,
in Fieldale and in the Tri-Citi®
each broadcast.
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' From National Safety News
Published by
' The National Safety Council
FIELDCREST MILL WHl^