Murder by microbe

Title

Murder by microbe

Creator

Borja, Wilfrido

Language

English

Year

1947

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

MURDER BY MICROBE WILFRIDO BORJA Twenty thousand Fi lipino? are going to die this year. The murderer will be a ti ny organism, about three-thou sandths of a millimeter in size. Known to scientists as the bacil lus tuberculosis the minute mur derer is a ncd-shaped microbe, slightly bent or curved, and when seen under a microscope after staining, may present a beaded appearance. EXPERIMENTS have shown that the tubercle bacillus in dried spu tum may live for as long as three years if protected from, light. It travels around with the dust. It is found in hospital wards, public .carriages and public buses. If a man sneezes in your vicinity, it may travel down your nostrils and seek a resting place in your res piratory system where it will start to multiply. A child crawling on the floor may pick up the microbes on his hands. And in a few months or years he may be a skeleton of himself because a careless mother failed to wash baby’s hands be fore he started sucking his thumb. The sputum of the tuberculosis victim may travel into your house by way of your own shoes, the hem of your mother’s long skirt; your sister’s slacks, or the hair of your pet dog after a good roll in the dust otf the street You never can tell tuberculosis, and even an innocent kiss may mean mur der if you don’t watch out. TUBERCULOSIS has been called the captain of the men of death The accuracy of the description can be gauged if you consider that as late as 1940 it was listed as eighth among the causes of death in the whole world. It 1900 it was listed as Public Enemy Number One, a position which it still holds in the Philippines. Consider the following facts: 38,000 men, women and children in this country have been carried 21 22 THE CROSS away by the white plague since the liberation. 111.1 out of every 100,000 Filipinos die of the dread ed TB. And for every victim who ends up in the grave, there were 20 more who already have the di sease. The tragic thing about tubercu losis is that it strikes its victims clown usually between the ages of 20 and 35. The fifteen years com prising this span are generally conceded to be the most fruitful in a man’s career. But when the white plague strikes at him with a clammy hand, he becomes a bed ridden patient, a burden on his family and his community. pEDRO REYES is a young stu dent. Out for honors he begins to study far into the night. He de prives himself of the proper fest in order to devote himself to his studies. After a while he senses vague ly that the least exertion tires him out; he feels that he isn’t learn ing as fast as he should and that his workJs becoming shoddy and half-hearted. Perhaps he begins to cough, a dry cough which he really doesn’t notice or, if he does, fails to treat properly. The cough becomes mucopurulent, and he lias to spit in order to relieve his mucus-con gested threat. If Pedro is a wise young man, he will see a doctor. There is nothing really wrong with him—yet. He may merely be suffering from bronchitis ac companying pulmonary lesion. But if he disregards that vague feeling of illness, that dry cough which rapidly becomes mucopuru lent, he may be taking the first step towards a tuberculosis sana torium. He begins to feei feverish some times, getting chills and sweating freely as he tosses about in, ex hausted sleep. He may not lose weight at first; but as that'eough gets worse and these sharp pains keep stabbing at his chest, he be gins to lose weight. Then he begins to notice that his sputum is fleck ed, just a little with blood. Tho roughly disturbed, he goes to the offices of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society in Tayuman, Manila. Here, after a thorough exami nation, his worst fears are con firmed. Doctor Avellana tells him as gently as possible that he has been infected by the white plague, but that, if he follows instruc tions, he can.be cured. By this time, Pedro is so stricken with fear he is willing to do anything to get well. The doctor recommends proper food, fresh air, complete rest. And Pedro’s little world of dreamB falls upon his head. He must dis continue hi? studies; his profes sional career will be delayed. But AUGUST, 1917 23 he is lucky if he gets away as easily as this. He may be married with a wife and children to support. To stop working would be tantamount to condemning his family to death by slow starvation. And further more, who is going to pay for the treatment necessary to set him back on the road to recovery? These questions he must set tle for himself. And usually he chooses to go on working, keeping his grim secret to himself while the tiny microbes continue tearing his lungs to pieces. His disease worsens. He begins to spit blood. Every time he coughs he emits a shower of - microbes that endanger his own family, his friends, his fellow stu dents or employees. And finally, when his lungs can no longer sus tain his body, he has a last he morrhage and drops into the grave. The career of Pedro ends with a spatter of blood. REALIZING that many Filipi nos who are TB victims simply cannot afford what it takes to effect a cure for tuberculosis, the Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis So ciety is waging a campaign to raise P500,000.00 to fight the dreaded white plague. The moqe'y which will be secured from the drive will be used to buy medi cines to secure the nedessary equipment fcr Pneumothorax (col lapse of thc lung) and other me thods which have been perfected to counteract tuberculosis, to buy milk and fresh vegetables for countless TB carriers who must either be helped or die. The money will also be spent in educating Filipinos on the pre vention and cure of tuberculosis. Posters, pamphlets, films, books will be distributed throughout the Philippines, dealing with tubercu losis: how it starts, how spread, how stopped, how cured. For where tuberculosis is concerned, an ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure. The history of the world has shown that when education and improved social conditions for the masses can be secured, the death rate from tuberculosis always bogs down. This is especially notable in the United States where the death rate from tuberculosis has gone down to approximately 40 per 100,000 population, a ratio which is only one-third as large as that of the Philippines. A survey of the large cities in the United States has shown that the prevalence of tuberculosis among the Negroes living in con gested slums is eleven times higher than in other sections where the inhabitants have ma 24 TIIE CROSS naged to retain a higher stand ard of living. The same is true in the Philippines; perhaps, the proportion is even higher. During the Japanese occupation a rambling tenement in the Leveriza slum district housed 187 children between the ages of 1 and 18. During the period from 1943 to 1945 eleven of them died from tuberculosis, encouraged by malnutrition, lack of fresh air and the proper surroundings. Slums are always breeding places for tuberculosis; as long as slums remain, the white plague willsalways have a happy hunting ground. As long as poverty and wretchedness persist, the white plague wil continue to reap its victims and the ratio of 111.1 in every 100,000 will not go down. It is becoming increasingly clear that unless the people of the Phi lippines do something about it, tuberculosis will always be one of the costliest hazards which the people of this country must meet. MONKEY BUSINESS “Papa,” said Pepito, “is it true that we are descended from the monkeys.” “Why, of course. Science has proved that man is taken from the mor.key and is going more perfect?’ "Then, Papa, you are mere of a monkey than I am.” Smack! "How dare you call your father a monkey!” ♦ * * * * THOUGHT Five per cent of the people habitually think; fifteen per cent occcasionally think, and eighty per cent would rather die than think. —Eccl. Review

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