Lockjaw fatal in many cases: Anti-Tetanus Campaign Planned by City

              In Louisiana, over half the peo­ple who develop lockjaw die,
And lockjaw is very prevalent in Louisiana as it is in all parts of the South.
To guard against such unneces­sary death, the Orleans Parish Medical Society is launching an all-out, anti-tetanus campaign.
Medical authorities believe those who died from tetanus during the past year would prpbably be alive today had they protected them­selves ahead of time by taking tetanus toxoid shots.
During the anti-tetanus cam­paign, which gets under way this week, members of the committee in charge will urge every man, woman and child in the city to immunize himself against the dread disease.
Dr. Richard A, Faust, chairman of the tetanus protection commit­tee for the Orleans Parish Medi­cal Society, said, "All you have to do is take a shot today, a second shot a month from now, a third shot six months to a year from now."
*t)NLY BOOSTER'
"Then," he added, "when you Injure yourself all you need is a booster."
During the current   campaign,. member of the committee will* ask industry to have all their em­ployes immunized.  Some   indus­tries,  such as Western Electric Co. and Kaiser Aluminum   and Chemical Corp. are already doing this. Others are expected to follow suit.
Veterans of World War II, who received their tetanus toxoid shots during the war, will be urged to to to their family doctor for a booster. Some veterans, of course, will argue that since it's been at least 15 years since they got their wartime shots, they'll probably have to start all over again.
"This isn't true," said Dr. Faust, "all they'll need is a boost­er.
The committee chairman said during World War II, millions of soldiers received compulsory tetanus toxoid shots. And millions of serious wounds were incurred. Yet of all these millions, he added, only two soldiers died from tetanus. Which, in the opinion of the    physician,    means   tetanus
toxoid provides practically 100 per cent immunity*
'SERUM  CITED*
Dr. Faust said, "if you haven't received your tetanus toxoid shots ahead of time, the only thing which will help when you're in­jured is the old-timey, anti-tetanus serum, often referred to as horse serum."
But a patient may say, "Why borrow trouble, Doc? I'll just wait until I step on a nail, then run in and get a shot."
"What this patient doesn't real­ize," pointed out the physician, "is that other things can cause tetanus besides a puncture wound from a rusty nail Sometimes its a scratch so slight, even the pa­tient doesn't realize he's received it."
Dr. Faust said a patient suffer­ing from lockjaw will say, "How in the world did this ever happen to me?  I haven't been in any
accidents. I haven't so much as scratched my little finger."
"But of course he must have hurt himself in some way or he wouldn't be down with lockjaw," the physician added. "But its easy to understand his bewilderment. Often the doctor treating him is equally as puzzled. He may ex­amine the patient from head to foot and find not the slightest sign of injury."
'TAKING CHANCE'
Dr. Faust said even when the patient makes a beeline for a doc­tor's office he is still taking a big chance waiting until the last min-utev to take the horse serum.
"The horse serum isn't nearly as effective as the toxoid," added the physician. "Also the patient could develop a reaction to the horse serum — a reaction so se­vere in some cases he could drop dead on the spot,"
Why is the old-timey horse se­rum less effective than the new­er tetanus toxoid?
Dr. 'Faust explains it this way:
"The horse serum used on pa­tients after they've stepped on a nail or run sewing machine needle through their finger is a serum ob­tained from horses who have re­ceived the toxoid shots and havei developed their own active im-J munity, When we give this horse serum to humans, the humans de­velop only a passive immunity, But when a human receives the toxoid first hand he builds up his own active immunity."
The committee chairman said those who think tetanus is a rare disease may be surprised to learn that there were 341 cases of lock­jaw in Louisiana over a 10-year period. OF these 341 cases, 189 died.
PERSONNEL IMMUNITY
"Id like to see every industry in the city have their personnel im­munized against tetanus," said Dr; Faust. "Such immunization would not only protect the employee, it would save the employer money in man-hour losses. And it is a PHOTO: -Photo by The Times-Picayune.
PROTECTION AGAINST TETANUS for all its employes is the goal of a large electrical company here. Each employe will receive a series of three tetanus toxoid shots. Pretty blonde nurse* Mrs. Patricia Postlehwait, is administering a shot to Mrs. Patricia Walle, an employe, as I/. N. Smith, company manager, looks on.