Document rGo5GEJjJ51EGO317qZ0yRKe

Industrial Hygiene Digest May, 1964 425 Right From the Start. The Importance of Early Immunization. Judy Craves. Public Affairs Pamphlet No. 350. Available From Public Affairs Committee, 22- East 38th Street, New York, N. V. 10016. 28"pp. (Sept. 1963). Price; 25 cents. The author describes the major diseases against which immunization is possible and how the vaccines work* and outlines a schedule for shots lor infants and children. Also discussed are the costs of immunization,community programs -- particularly for families without regular medical care, immunization of adults, and the need for keeping accurate personal records of immunization. Immunizing children--and adults--against health hazards is important not only for the individual but for the community as a whole. The danger to the unimmunized individual is a perennial health hazard as long as there are germs of communicable disease, but when large numbers of unimmunized persons live together in close proximity, as they now tend to do in low-income neighborhoods--the danger'is a matter of con cern to everyone. Public health officials warn that under such circumstances, an individual case could quickly grow into an epidemic--and once started, epidemics do not respect neighborhood boundaries. INDUSTRIAL MEDICAL PRACTICE 426 Poison and the Pathologist. L. Adelson. J.Am. Med. Assn. 187, 918-920(March 21,1964). The pathologist participating in the investigation of a known or alleged poison ing fatality has a multifaceted responsibility. He must search for and recognize ana. tomic changes produced by the toxic substance, while recalling that many poisons produce no organic injury even when they are present in lethal concentration. He should always preserve sufficient quantities of body fluids, excreta, and viscera in properly labelled containers so that the chemical analyst has adequate material for all possibilities. Frequent consultation with the toxicologist is essential in the interest of expediting the search for the lethal chemical. Ultimately it falls upon the pathologist to establish the cause of death in the light of all the anatomic and chemical findings. -- Author's abst. 427 The Acute Effect of Alcohol on the Circulation and on the Oxygen Metabolism of the Heart. V. Ganz. Am. Heart J. la6, 494-497 (Oct. 1963). Alcohol, in an average dose of-58 mg. per kilogram per minute, was infused during 20 minutes into 10 anesthetized dogs. Cardiac output and the external work of the heart decreased, with no change in arterial blood pressure. Coronary sinus out. flow increased as a result of a fall in coronary vascular resistance. There was no change in either coronary arteriovenous oxygen difference or myocardial oxygen extraction. Oxygen consumption, however, increased in the myocardium. The results are discussed in terms of the effect of alcohol on the pain of angina pectoris. -- Aerospace Med. Absts. -:28 A Study of the Effects of Alcohol on Mental Functions. M.C. Hutchison, et al. Can. Psychiat. Assn. J. 9, 33 (19<)4). In a series of 8 male non-psychotic volunteers, the effects of alcohol on the following 6 mental functions were tested: (1) Orientation and personal history, (2) digit span forward (for immediate memory), (3) digit span reversed (affected by brain injury), (4) abstract thinking, (5) paired associates learning, and (6) retention. It was found that a mean blood alcohol concentration of 1.0 part per 1,000 did not affect the subjects' accuracy of information relating to personal identity and orientation in time and place. The subjects' attention, abstract thinking and learning efficiency were adversely affected 6. 03121450