BOARD OF HEALTH


preparation, promulgation, and enforcement of many permanent rules
and regulations in effect throughout the state. In addition, special regu-
lations are made to meet emergencies, and orders for the abatement
of nuisances are issued.
   The work of the board and the state health officer is supplemented
 by local boards of health and local health officers in all towns, villages,
 and cities. The state board keeps in constant touch with these local
 boards and officers by means of its deputy and district state health offi-
 cers and assists them with their problems.
   A major concern of the state Board of Health, the deputy and dis-
 trict state health officers, and the local health officers is the preven-
 tion and control of communicable diseases. For this work the board
 maintains a bureau of communicable diseases which is conducted in
 cooperation with the United States Public Health Service. Local health
 officers send in weekly reports of the number of new cases of all report-
 able diseases which are analyzed by the bureau. Whenever a disease,
 communicable or otherwise, becomes alarming in any locality the Board
 of Health investigates and cooperates with the local authorities to gain
 control of the situation. A report of all cases of venereal diseases must
 be made by physicians and hospitals, and an attempt is made to fol-
 low up such cases to insure treatment.
   The state laboratory and branch and cooperative laboratories are
maintained for the more extensive control of all communicable dis-
eases. The cost of the branch and cooperative laboratories is shared
by the cities in which they are located. They assist physicians and
public health officials in diagnosing communicable diseases and in
numerous other procedures. The state laboratory is operated in con-
junction with the University and is in charge of a member of the uni-
versity faculty. Here chemical and bacteriological examinations are
made to determine the presence of various communicable diseases.
Analysis of water is also made to test its fitness for drinking. All these
tests are made free of charge at the request of any physician or health
officer. Anti-typhoid vaccines are manufactured in this laboratory and
distributed free of charge to physicians in the state. The board also
distributes silver nitrate which physicians and midwives attending
births are required to put in the eyes of all newborn babies to prevent
blindness from ophthalmia neonatorum.
  A specialized service in the field of maternal and infant hygiene is
given by the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health. This includes
demonstration maternal and child health centers to encourage the
establishment of such services in local communities, maternal and in-
fant hygiene institutes, the training of teachers in a standard course
of infant hygiene, cooperation with and assistance to schools in start-
ing such courses, health examinations and instruction of the student
teachers in the county rural normal schools and teacher training de-
partments, group talks, radio talks, newspaper articles, monthly letters


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