European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 10, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes saturday september 10, 1977 modern Medicine much concern Over spread of diseases is unjustified by Michael j. Halberstam . Doctor a woman who works with me in my office has hepatitis and her doctor says that everybody in the office should see their doctor. Can i come right away and get a shot i can t afford to get  in my practice i get a phone Call like this three or four times a month. Usually the Call involves hepatitis but frequently it May be about Contact with tuberculosis mononucleosis or mumps. As the Public gets better educated about disease and As infectious diseases become rarer we seem to panic Over circumstances that would make our grandpa rents and even our parents wonder with amazement. After All they were in direct con tact with deadly diseases All the time and they did t go running off for shots As soon As they heard that a relative or associate at work was , ironically with Many infectious Dis eases totally conquered and immunizations available for Many others people become concerned about disease Contact which is not truly significant. Hepatitis is spread by a virus actually few disabilities caused by doctors study finds los Angeles a about one in 20 patients hospitalized in California in 1974 suffered a disability caused by medical care a malpractice study concluded. But less than 20 per cent of those disabilities were caused by improper treatment according to the study. It said the vast majority of disabilities were unavoidable results of Cor rect treatment for whatever was wrong with the patient. The California medical association paid three doctors who Are also lawyers $700,000 to conduct the study which was based on a 1974 Sample of 20,684 Hospital charts from 23 Hospi tals. Expanding the findings to the More than 3 million patients hospitalized that year in Cali fornia the report estimated that 140,000 per sons suffered disabilities As a result of medical care. Eighty per cent of these were temporary disabilities and Only 5,300 were lasting functional disabilities the report said. E. Kash Rose president of the Cha said tuesday he was pleased with the results be cause the report showed few cases of poo medical treatment. The Cha House of delegates will consider the report this october when it makes recommendations on How to Deal with rising Mal practice insurance rates. The report estimated that 13,600 people died in 1974 from treatment caused disabilities but one fourth of those probably would have died independently within one year from unrelated underlying diseases or  the report s chief author Don Harper Mills a doctor lawyer from los Angeles said it was a first step to considering alternatives to the current system of dealing with Mal practice claims. The malpractice litigation Arena is so expensive both for patients and for physicians and hospitals that we be got to make some change said Mills. The report did not recommend specific changes. German Row returns to Wales with thanks London a wartime memories Are not All bad. Take those of Hans Muhlhahn of Germany. Hans was part of a Luftwaffe bomber Crew shot Down Over North Wales in 1941. Now 58 years old he returned to the tiny Welsh Village of Nerc Wys for a weekend visit to say thank you to the people who dressed his wounds and fed him before he was taken to British prisoner of War Camp. We were hit by two antiaircraft shells and i bailed out from a height of 11,000 feet retold reporters. When i landed i was quite frightened so fired my pistol into the air to attract Atten Tion. I was taken to a House where my head which was bleeding quite badly was bandaged. The people there gave me Tea and food. Everyone was so kind that i resolved to come Back to Wales one Day and say thank you to All the wonderful people who helped  two separate viruses possibly More. The viruses Are spread through blood and blood components saliva fees and other bodily secretions. They can be transmitted directly from one person to another. The nature of the hepatitis virus however is such that it does not spread easily from person to person. Now that research has revealed much about the character of the hepatitis viruses and now that carriers of the virus can be identified improved immunization against hepatitis is possible. The immunization however does not appear to last very Long and it should be Given Only to people who Are at great and regular risk of getting hepatitis people who work with blood and blood products in Labora tories or hospitals or people who have had direct intimate exposure to proven cases of hepatitis. � note the use of the word  casual Contact with someone who has hepatitis the kind of Contact that most coworkers in an office or a school have for example is no reason for concern. The virus just does t spread easily in the air from person to person. If it did we would have vast easily identifiable epidemics of hepatitis such As those we used to have with measles and other airborne viruses. The hepatitis virus requires prolonged inti mate Contact for propagation. Therefore the current recommendation is that Only direct household contacts or no family members who have had intimate Contact with the victim should receive Gamma globulin or other anti hepatitis immunizations. The fact that you and a hepatitis victim ate in the same cafeteria is no reason to be concerned. If however you shared the same Coffee cup or knife and Fork Over a period of Days it might be a Good idea to be immunized. The same general approach applies to tuberculosis which like hepatitis usually re quires prolonged intimate or family Contact to gain a foothold. Therefore the discovery of a single Case of tuberculosis particularly if the victim has not had Active coughing which does in fact spread the germ in a school or office is no reason for panic. Each person who is exposed and each physician must decide on the course to take depending on the degree of exposure but in Many cases the Contact has been so slight that not even a Chest x Ray or skin test is required. Your own physician May disagree on Occa Sion with some of the guidelines i suggest that is his or her prerogative. However most practising physicians agree that much of the concern about Contact with infectious disease is exaggerated and Mere needless worry. C new York times across 1 frolic 5 strife 8 Khayyam 12 samoan seaport 13 Spanish cheer 14 Spanish measure 15 multicoloured Flower 17 evangelist Roberts 18 of benzine comb form 19 stored Green fodder 21 Pound Down 24 drunkard25 Aggregates 28 Central Russia City 30 Chance archaic 33 to be hurry 34 avoid35 most of power36 High Hill 37 allot 38 again 39 Uganda s Amin 41 son of Seth 43 delights 46 american Buffalo 50 japanese language 51 of the sea 54 French City 55 very cold 56 Rainbow 57 most of Street 58 starting place 59 wanes Down 1 move with fury 2 Bright coloured fish 3  4 portrays 5 court 6 fours card game 7 Cincinnati s champs 8 convex molding 9 i my foot race 10 a Bone  avg. Solution time 22 min. 9-19answer to yesterday s Puzzle. 11 death rattle 16 tibetan Antelope 20 Royale Mich. 22 change places 23 chatter 25 pose 26 one up 27 France personified 29 sir Anthony 31 fill with wonder 32 Church seat 34 Moabite bib 38 Tell it 40 syrian sect 42 japanese Sash 43 throw 44 yesterday for 45 stain dial 47 father 48 neglect 49 Headland 52 High card 53 Cereal grass today crossword 18 25 43 50 54 57 27 34 37 22 26 St 55 41 52 19 29 53 n 20 46 156 \s9 30 47 31 48 32 49 9-10 Doronn Landers dear Ann what do i do when i see a boy of six embrace and rub himself up against a five year old girl trying to satisfy his sexual curiosity he was doing it in the Yard where he thought no one would see him. Should i mind my own business i have a sva year old daughter and i would want to be told of this kind of behaviour before it went any further. Please answer. Mother in a dilemma dear Mother such behaviour is not abnormal however you should Alert the Little girl s Mother also the boy s. Young children of the opposite sex ought not to be left to play unsupervised for Long periods of time. They should also be told not to touch each other s private parts not because it s bad but be cause bodies Are personal prop erty and not playthings. Most children manage to play doctor and Experiment this is Normal curiosity but they should be checked on periodically to make sure they Don t become unduly preoccupied with such goings on. Dear Ann someone just left my Home who made me furious. It was a Cigar smoker one of those terrible Stinky ones. Now my House smells like cigars. I have an allergy headache that will last for hours. I would have kicked him out the door but he is my husband s business associate so i could t say a word. How can we get it through the thick skulls of Cigar smokers that they Are infringing on other peo ple s rights Are they too Gross to care or Don t they know what they Are doing we read and hear a lot about the evils of cig Aret smoking but now can we get through to the Cigar freaks cigars Are not la bleed hazardous to your health but they really can foul up a place and Are a definite infringement on the rights of others. Please print this and comment. Where s a Clothespin dear pin More and More we Are seeing signs that say no  this Means cigars and pipes As Well As Cigar ets. I share your disgust in regard to cigars but i m not allergic to them. Since you Are your Hus band should ask his business associate not to smoke them in your Home. Doctor s orders dear Ann thank god it hurts to hate wrote to you. I was beginning to think i was abnormal until i read her letter and realized that there must be hundreds of us. I am younger 50 and Mother lives next door but she won t be Able to live much longer. My brother who lives 20 Miles away does t want to be bothered. He makes Semi monthly trips and stays for one hour. Mother has t been inside his Home for two years she makes every Day a living hell for me. My husband finds me in tears every time he comes Home from work. I wonder How Long he will put up with a de pressed wife. He s a Good Guy who deserves better. What should i do hurting dear a by the time you read this you la know what to do. The answer for hurts was provided by two wonderful read ers. If you did t see it get a copy of wednesday june 27s paper. O1w7 Field enterprises inc