Campaign against influenza in the U.S.S.R.

Campaign against influenza in the U.S.S.R.

34 the first year or two of the child's life ; but we are apt to forget that the process of individuation does not end there. Two-, three- and four-ye...

417KB Sizes 0 Downloads 37 Views

34 the first year or two of the child's life ; but we are apt to forget that the process of individuation does not end there. Two-, three- and four-year olds need outlets for their exuberance and vitality not often provided for in the homes modern civilisation has produced for them. The movement to provide nursery schools and nursery playgroups for the two- to five-year olds is directly in line with the findings of child guidance work (though its recent impetus is derived from war conditions). Those in charge of such groups should let them be developed on the lines of free play (or as near as possible) that child guidance has found so valuable. One hears already of groups where organisation and training are the ruling creed. It is far more important for the child to learn by actual experiment where possible, for then when the time comes he is more likely to accept social rulings of his own free will. The same principles, modified suitably as the child grows older, apply to all the phases of even more formal education. Modern education has largely broken away from the old pedagogic tradition. Look at the old method of drilling lifeless academic material into the child whether he liked it or not. Contrast this with modern methods which aim at arousing the child's active interests. School lessons should become as far as possible an intellectual adventure, a co-operative procedure in which teacher and child share in discovering and drawing out (the true meaning of education) the latent powers of the child. This method makes greater demands on the teacher and, of course, can only be carried out satisfactorily with smaller classes. It lays more emphasis on the individual characteristics of the child who is being taught than on the subject. T h e method of presenting the material in the early educational years may determine lifelong tastes. So much for the normal ; but what of the abnormal, of the young delinquents ? Here again traditional methods of discipline based on punishment have been shown to be often unsatisfactory. The problem is complicated and it is by no means easy to lay down rules. But the careful patient investigations of the child guidance clinics have shown us a way to tackle the potential criminal early in life with very promising results.

PUBI.IC HEALTH, December, 1942 CAMPAIGN A G A I N S T I N F L U E N Z A IN T H E U . S . S . R . ~ By PROF. DMITRY ROSSYISKY Since the disastrous world-wide influenza epidemics of 1918 and 1919, which affected hundreds of millions, about 20 millions of whom died, Soviet scientific research, public health institutions, and social services have made great efforts to devise new methods of combating influenza. A special " A l l - U n i o n Committee for Combating Influenza," affiliated to the Scientific Medical Council, has been founded by the Public Health Commissariat. This Committee co-ordinates all scientific work in connection with problems of influenza. A bibliographic index of Soviet and foreign literature on aetiology, epidemiotogy, clinical treatment, prophylaxis and therapy of influenza has been published. On its foundation, this Committee and the Public Health Commissariat organised in 1940 an All-Union competition for the best research monographs and popular publications on influenza. More than 500 papers by Soviet authors have been published between 1917 and 1942 on problems of influenza. They are concerned mostly with the clinical, prophylactic and therapeutic aspects of the disease. A great number of publications have been issued by the All-Union Institute of Experimental Medicine, the Pasteur Institute in Leningrad, the Metchnikov Institute of Infectious Diseases, the Central Virus Laboratory of Public Health Commissariat, the Central Institute of Epiderniology and Microbiology of Leningrad, Institutions of Sera and Vaccines in Kiev, Sanitary and Bacteriological Institute, etc. Prevention and Treatment

A successful method of inoculation against epidemic influenza has been developed by the Virus Department of the Union Institute of Experimental Medicine (Prof. Smorodintsev and his associates), which consists of inhaling weakened virus or injecting subcutaneously formol-treated virus. Favourable results are also anticipated from the application of an antiinfluenza serum derived from cattle treated over a long period of time with influenza virus. An anti-influenza vaccine studied Facilities for Treatment and tested over a long period of years at the Metchnikov Institute And so we come round again to the neurotic. What pro- of Infectious Diseases has become widely used as a means of vision have we for them, either the potential or the fully immunisation against seasonal influenza (seasonal catarrh of fledged cases ? Outside London facilities for adequate treat- the upper respiratory tubes). ment are very meagre indeed. Even for those who can afford The problem of the treatment of influenza and its complicato pay private fees the supply of psychiatrists is quite unequal tions has been taken up by a number of clinical institutions in to the demand, let alone for the great army of the poorer classes. the U.S.S.R., including the First Leningrad Medical Institute, These latter fall between two stools in the provinces. Either the First and Second Moscow Medical Institutes, F i r s t they are fobbed off with the attention of inadequately staffed Kharkov Medical Institute, and Union Institute of ExperiO.P. departments in our general hospitals, or when their mental Medicine. symptoms are of the more obviously psychological nature they We owe to our Soviet clinicians the classification of influenza, are referred to (or even admitted into) mental hospitals for its differential diagnosis, and the methods of treating the many treatment which is equally unsatisfactory. I do not wish to complications of influenza. Pa*ticularly valuable contributions imply that the medical officers of our mental hospitals are not to the problem have been made by Soviet scientists in the sphere trained or skilled in their own work, but I maintain that the train- of influenza prophylaxis and therapy. They have made ing obtained through residence at a provincial mental hospital extensive observations of the effect produced by various antidoes not provide the technique or skill necessary to treat the influenzal preparations, such as urotropin and its preparations, psychoneuroses, which are an entirely different problem. minute doses of iodine, and good oil vitamins. A thorough study Medical education is largely to blame for this deficiency. of chlorine and its therapeutic effect has been carried out by The whole problem of the relation of psychology to medicine two competent research institutes--the Saratov Central needs to be reviewed afresh. Modern analytic psychology at Research Institute of Physiology of the Upper Respiratory Paths, present sits uneasily between orthodox medicine on the one and the Leningrad Scientific Practical Institute of Ear, Nose, hand and sociology and education on the other. It is, however, Throat and Speech Diseases--as well as by a number of scientific far too important to be kept indefinitely in this awkward workers of the Soviet Union. Within recent times the significant position, especially as it is destined to play a larger and larger results of physiotherapeutic methods of treating influenza have part in our medico-social services. It is big enough now to been observed--namely ultra-violet irradiation and electrohave a department to itself with a status of its own. I should aero-ionisation combined with ultra-violet irradiation. Comlike to see a Medical Officer of Mental Health filling the gap parative observations on the efficacy of some therapeutic and between the present M.O.H. and the Director of Education. prophylactic anti-influenza treatments have been carried out in several scientific centres of.the Soviet Union. During these observations over 20,000 subjects were examined in Moscow in 1940. I n 1941 observations carried oninMoscow, Leningrad, Members of the Society are invited to attend a conference con- Kharkov, Gorky and Stalingrad involved more than 100,000 vened by the British Paediatric Association for Saturday, December 12th, 1942, " to discuss a better policy than now exists for pro- people, the greatest number of people involved in any medical moting the health of children in this country." The Conference experiment in history. will open at 2 p.m. at the Royal Society of Medicine, I, Wimpole Street, London, W.1. * Cable received by the Anglo-Soviet Medical Council.

35

PUBLIC HEAETH, December, 1942 Popular Instruction Special instructions regarding anti-influenza measures have been issued by the All-Union Committee. During the Finnish Campaign of 1939-1940 instructions were issued to the Red Array and Navy and special leaflets on prophylaxis were distributed to the soldiers. During the present war new instructions for the Army and Navy have been issued by the Committee. Similar instructions have been prepared for the underground, air-raid and gas shelters, and pamphlets and leaflets have been distributed among the population of districts freed from Nazi occupation. A great deal of educational work has been done on this question, and leaflets and posters are being issued by the Committee. Scientific workers and physicians deliver lectures by radio, in hostels, houses, schools, clubs, therapeutic institutions, industrial plants, etc. A film called " Influenza and the Struggle Against It " has been made by the Committee and the All-Union Institute of Experimental Medicine, to be shown to the general public, and also a large number of smaller films. A new film to be used with lectures has recently been approved. Special attention is paid to the domiciliary medical service. Regular visits are made by the physician until all symptoms of influenza have entirely disappeared. Instructions issued by the Commissariat of Public Health impresses upon the population the importance of staying at home and calling in the doctor as soon as the first symptoms of influenza are noticed, and to avoid visiting clinics at that time. In spite of our great achievements the problem of influenza still demands much further energetic and systematic work. The danger of influenza infection in war-time is particularly great, and to check the spreading of the infection is to help both the army at the Front and the great civilian army in the rear, both vital armies in the present struggle.

on diseases of children. Dr. Williamson's admirable preface to his chapter on functional nervous disorders raised high hopes that the ideal union of treatment of mind and body had at last been achieved, but the subsequent seetion~ on enuresis, masturbation, and habit spasms are disappointing. Perhaps the author will reconsider in his next edition the recommendation for the use of " unboiled m i l k " in the treatment of r;ckets. Boiling the milk has little effect on the vitamin A and D and mineral content, and in view of his statement that 25% of the cows in the British Isles suffer from tuberculous infection, it seems a desirable precaution. The book contains an enormous amount of compressed information, is convenient in size, well illustrated, and easy to read. T h e author's opinions in general are shrewd and illuminating. Necessarily the book is not very profound ; if it were it would not be the compact handbook which Dr. Williamson intended to produce. First Aid and the Medical Practitioner by Various Authors Edited by SIR I-IuMPHRY ROLLESTON, Bt., and ALAN MONCRIEFF,M.D., F.R.C.P. With an introduction by E. ROCK CARLING, M.B., n:s., F.R.C.S.

The Practitioner Booklets.

London. " The Practitioner " in conjunction with Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1942. Pp. xii + 95. Price 6s. net. This is one of the small books published by The Practitioner which have found favour with the medical profession because they are in general well written and deal with their subjects from a practical aspect. This present volume was probably not an easy one to plan. There are already numerous textbooks on first aid, and there is a danger that writers on this subject may step from the domain of first aid proper into that of the surgeon. O n the whole the dangers have been avoided and the result is a book which should be of real value to the practitioner. Mr. Wallace's brief chapter on burns is packed with up-to. date information. The chapter on wounds and haemorrhage BOOK R E V I E W S by Dr. White Knox contains possibly overmuch elementary Wartime Food for Growing Children. By CHARLESHILL, M.A., information for a work of this type, and some of his more M.D., D.P.H. Issued by the Ministry of Food and the important points are repeated in the succeeding chapter on fractures by Mr. Osmond Clarke--a common fault in a symMinistry of Information. H.M.S.O. 3d. A further series of ten broadcasts by Dr. Hill is now issued posium. Despite this, Mr. Clarke's contribution contains much in printed form. Starting with an admonition to Father not sound information. It is interesting to note that he recomto appropriate an unfair share of the " building " foods, they mends the immediate reduction of compound fractures. The go on to deal with the child's breakfast, the protein foods, the chapters on head injuries and on jaw injuries by Mr. Pennyplace of vegetables, the need for more than packing in the pre- backer and Mr. Warwick James respectively are both well bedtime meal, the need for iron, lime, phosphorus, iodine, and written, and will repay careful study. The section on eye sodium chloride, and with other questions raised by listeners. injuries by Dr. Wellwood Ferguson and that on shock by Dr. Everything is expressed in simple, clear language and the McMichael are orthodox but contain several points not generally interest is stimulated by sly quips. For example : " Q. Is appreciated. Dr. M. M. Scott contributes a practical Chapter there any such thing as a brain food ? A. I ' m sorry, but there on asphyxia, and Dr. Corbet Fletcher in dealing with the transisn't, unless it's work." As in his previous broadcasts Dr. Hill port of the injured describes the evolution of the St. John uses repetition artfully and effectively. Perhaps it is too sweep- Ambulance Association and of its pioneer work in perfecting ing to say that 100% of school children should take milk under transport. the Milk in Schools Scheme. There do seem to be children, Illustrations of Bandaging and First Aid. By Lois CAKES, not negligible in number, who are allergic to milk, and to force S.R.N., D.N. Second Edition, revised and rearranged. them to take it is not conducive to good nutrition or to that Edinburgh : E. & S. Livingstone. 1942. 256 pp. Price equanimity at table which Dr. Hill rightly commends. The 4s. 6d. net. (De Luxe edition, 6s. net.) educational value of these talks is very great and they deserve Practically all the numerous books on first aid contain the widest circulation in print. illustrations of some kind. The fact that a second edition of A Handbook on Diseases of Children. By BRUCEWILLIAMSON, this book has been asked for within two years indicates that it M.D., F.R.C.P., Edinburgh. E. and S. Livingstone. Third is in some way different from many of the others. It is virtually Edition. 1942. Pp. 364. 70 illustrations. Price 12s. 6d. a collection of serial photographs illustrating the main steps in net. Postage 6d. all the ordinary procedures of bandaging. The text is arranged For those who require a short textbook on paediatrics this under or alongside the photographs and is reduced to the handbook by Dr. Bruce %Vitliamsonmay be safely recommended. m i n i m u m necessary to give a clear description of each step. The third edition has been brought up to date and is entirely The reviewer does not know any other book which gives such modern in outlook, making it clear how much present-day clear pictures of these methods, and as bandaging is learned treatment owes to the sulphonamide prepzrations. Details of most easily by practice after the actual process has been observed treatment are dealt with more fully than in most textbooks, and rather than from a printed description, it is obvious that first the last chapter includes a list of typical prescriptions for aid workers, nurses, and other persons who are interested in infants, hints on the various drugs used in childhood, and a the subject will find this book invaluable. It deals with the use valuable description of sulphonamide therapy. The vitamins of the triangular and the roller bandage, and also with the receive due attention and two coloured nutrition charts are treatment of fractures. I n the second edition certain sections given for reference. have been added--such as those on the " barrel " bandage for Dr. Williamson keeps the normal child in view whilst fractures of the jaw and on the Thomas splint----and the photodescribing the development of disease. It is rare to find the graphs have been rearranged so as to give the whole of any psychological side of illness adequately dealt with in textbooks process without the necessity of turning a page.