'•*>' 4 £ 39 Hyald & Lantern 16 January '85 1

Encephalitis Scare— (From Page 38) infection to infection with serious symptoms is 25: l . While morality is high among those who contract the most virulent form of the disease, which includes as a symptom hydrocephaly or brain swelling, the above ratio shows that only small numbers of those who contract encephalitis will die from it. Rather, it is more likely that an infected individual will feel no symptoms at all than for an individual to contract hydrocephaly from it. It has been postulated by experienced, objective physicians that large numbers of people have had encephalitis and don't know it. For all we know, as much as half the county could now be immune to encephalitis due to having had exposure and infection, having recovered and gained antibodies to it, and all without any overt symptoms whatsoever. 2. This point is as exaggerated as the last. While brain and nerve damage may be apparent in a small number of the population who contracts encephalitis, the overall statistics match rates for fatalities. Also, many who contract the most virulent form of the disease, and have hydrocephaly as a result, recover completely. 3. THE WHOLESALE use of Malrfthion to control mosquito populations has recently come under heavy fire, and not without good reason. Malathion is used freely in Cape May County by the Mosquito Commission for the control of adult mosquitos. Malathion also causes cancer in test animals, and the probability that it is also a human carcinogren is very high. BT is used as a larvicide and it kills by mutation, The distinct possibility that BT could cause birth defects in humans cannot be overlooked. With this in mind, a long look needs to be taken at the current methods for controlling the spread of encephalitis, particularly in light of the extremely rare occurrence of the disease in its fatal form. Certainly, there is a dilemma here ; the danger of cancer from Malathion and birth defects from BT must be weighed against the death rates for encephalitis. Also the environmental damage that pesticides cause needs to be taken into account. Those who say that even one de$th from encephalitis is unacceptable must be made to acknowledge the risk of tens, perhaps hundreds of deaths from cancer relatable to the spraying of pesticides, and in particular, Malathion v BASED ON THE WORK of Dr. Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel Prize winner in the field of nutritional medicine Dr. William H. Philpott et. al, in a book entitled Brain Allergies, The Psychonutrient Connection, outline that among other viral diseases, virulent encephalitis can be brought under control through the use of massive and highly controlled, doses of Vitamin C. This is exciting because it means that even in severe cases, damage can be minimal because of the relative brevity of the acute phases of an attack. It is this kind oi information that needs to be disseminated to the public, rather than the exaggeration of information about the disease's darkest and most feared aspects. Also, as Dr. Crans points (kit in the article, there is a vaccine for encephalitis. While it may still be in the experimental stage for use in humans, it has been approved for use in animals. Any farmer who is worried about his horses can and should have them vaccinated; failure to do so only means that the death of any horse is needless and cruel, and is the responsibility of the farmer, not the Mosquito Commission, to prevent. IN CONCLUSION, there is one more point that this article brings up that concerns me perhaps even more than all the others. Dr. Crans alludes to the fact that nobody heard this year about any outbreaks of the disease and in fact, there was some sort of health emergency. How much an emergency was it really? If it wasn't all that bad, why does Dr. Crans try to create the illusion that there was imminent danger of epidemic, and then wait to tell the unsuspecting public about it well after the crisis has passed? If there was indeed imminent danger of a widespread outbreak, difficult though this is to predict, why was the public not informed so that they might take proper precautions in marshy areas? It is the duty of the County Health Department to make the public aware, in a reasonable and realistic way, of any danger to public health. This, if Dr. Crans is correct, clearly was not done. Instead, the issue was brought before a December meeting of the County Freeholders, not coincides tally at budget time. And here we see the reason why scare tactics and disinformation are used at all. \ MARY D. RANSOM Burleigh i. L . 1,

'I Said I'd Try— (From Page 38) such as "what happened to you?" and some quite puzzled "who is she" looks, thing began to warm up and I began to feel it was not a total loss. Several patients even appeared to want to tell me their problem. I persisted doing this every week, taking along some goodies and reading material to help me along. Well, since than there have been many changes. Many of the personnel even say "hello" to me in the elevator and the hallways and help me carry things if I look over-burdened. I started Operation Fireside on a very small scale that year since most of the recruits were allowed to go home for the holidays. All of 25 recruits were on my list to be entertained at Christmas in their homes and I felt that was great. You can imagine my surprise, or I should say shock, the following year when one of the chaplains approached me and said the cammond would like me to do the program again since no one would be going home this Time (1982) and the projected count would be 500. After being revived — believe me, I was speechless — I just said I would try, weakly. Well I did try and we did get 250 recruits out for the combined Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday. IT GOES WITHOUT sayingAo use a cliche, the recruits loved it, told me to keep doing it, the command and permanent personnel' were pleased and I have been very happy to continue doing the program so long as the results have been so rewarding. The host families have been just as enthusiastic about their being able to provide the hospitality and warmth they extend to the recruits as the recruits have been in accepting it. At first many of these young people, probable away from home and family for the first time, were somewhat hesitant about leaving the station but went along with the plan and were delighted. Many had parents write thank you notes to their hosts and told us they appreciated being able to see what Cape May was really like. Of course, we could not have done so well if it were notfor the press, your writers, your interest and alh the families who read you and wanted to be part of the endeavor. The pastors of many of our churches posted notices in their bulletins, mentioned the program from their pulpit, Father Anspach of Ocean City not only invited 14 of the recruits to dinner in his Lutheran Church this year, but personally entertained the recruits in his home after dinner until time to be taken home to the base, this past Thanksgiving. Our local station WWOC and TV channel 40 did their * itsual fine job of publicizing Operation Fireside which I know was responsible for a large part of our contacts. Thank you again and a very happy, successful New Year to all your staff. GERTRUDE M. REISS Chairperson, Military Families Cape May County Chapter American Red Cross

Joyride III By Libby Demp Forrest

This is a true story. It happened right here in Cape May County, New Jersey. It was told by a friend who drives to work with me. ^ All this happened before Christmas, but it could be happening now, today, any day. As I got into my friend's car for the ride to work one daylast month, she was yawning heavily. "Tired?" I asked. "Exhausted," she said. "Did you have trouble sleeping?" I asked. " "I slept fine until 4 o'clock this morning when the phone rang," she said. - ! • , "THAT'S TERRIBLE." I said. "Bad news?" "No, it was good news," she said, yawning agin. "Thp good news couldn't wait?" I asked. "Not this time," she said. "Somebody win a scholarship?" I asked. "No." "Somebody have a baby — twins or triplets?" I asked. ^"No." « . "Somebody win a lottery?" "No." "HUMMMM," I SAID. "I give up. Why were you called at 4 o'clock this morning?" v "My niece out in California called to tell me she got ahold of a Cabbage Patch Doll for my granddaughter." I sat in silence, pondering this event. My friend went on. "I called all over the country asking • relatives to be on the lookout for a Cabbage Patch doll and my niece managed to find one so she called as soon as she got home. She's mailing it by insured mail today." I TRIED TO LOOK impressed, but the Cabbage Patch phenomenon eludes me somewhat. Not that I don't love dolls. I love dolls. In fact, the other day when The Hubby and I were in Wanamaker's in Philadelphia, I threatened to have a temper tantrum and throw myself across the Grand Court if we didn't save some time to go upstairs and look at dolls in the big showcase. Rather than face embarrassment, The Hubby accompanied me to the 8th floor so I could look at dolls. And there, in a center case standing away from the fashion dolls, the character dolls, the Little Women dolls and beautifully dressed baby dolls, was a pair of Cabbage Patch dolls looking superior. My driving friend admitted the 4 o'clock call had scared her hubby. "He kept interrupting me," she said. "He kept saying, 'What happened?', 'Who's sick?', 'Who died?' ". "I can imagine," I said. "THEN WHEN I hung up, he wouldn't let me get back to sleep. He kept saying, 'I'll never understand women'. He kept lying there saying he was losing sleep because, he thought something had happened. " My friend yawned again. "I hope I can keep my eyes open in work today," she said. "At least my granddaughter will get what she wants for Christmas." "Better that," I said as I got out of the car, "than a little girl having a temper tantrum because she didn't get what she wants."

Sewage Plant ! (From Page 38) pie conservation plan and rehabilitation of the collector system must be taken care of immediately by the users of 1 the system. t Expansion of the plant should not and need not be paid } for by the current users. New users of the system can be 5 compelled to pay for the expansion through a surcharge 1 system because the expansion will be accomplished solely t to accommodate their use. In the long run, our cost per gallon for sewerage treatment will be lower if we have more users. a The voters should elect five commissioners with the in-

telligence. ability, relevant experience and a willingness to devote the necessary energy to eliminate pollution which threatens the quality of our environment ; The very existence of this serious situation in our community at this point in time represents an outrageous failure on the part of many elected officials and appointed officials on both the county and local levels over the years. Failure of voters, users and other people affected to insist that this situation be addressed years ago is appalling. However, that is history. The community should be united over a single common goal to eliminate pollution from sewerage effluent and failed septic systems at once. As we turn to the upcoming election of commissioners on Jan. 26, our attention should be directed to the qualification and willingness of all of the candidates to accomplish the goal of eliminating pollution. Undoubtedly all of the candidates are concerned and qualified. All we need to do is pick the five best to get the job done now. FREDERICK W. SCHMIDT, JR. * " Cape May Court House

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