Serums

September is past with its yearly threat of an infantile paralysis epidemic. But winter comes on with its certainty of pneumonia.

Doctors kept this year's infantile paralysis incidence low because they have recognized the early signs of the disease and used serums to prevent the paralysis. Best serum comes from convalescents. It is difficult to get, and scarce. Massachusetts, where the Harvard Infantile Paralysis Commission had three doctors traveling around the state to inject the serum into spines, seems to have done the best preventive work this year.

Doctors hope to keep pneumonia low this year. Their best advice is to guard against common colds. If colds develop, the patient should rest in bed and eat nourishing foods. If pneumonia develops, alert doctors this year have a new serum to use. Old ones required three injections to cure. The new one, announced last week by Dr. William Hallock Park of New York City's health department, the man who has done so much bacteriological work to prevent disease, requires but two injections. Its supply so far is scant. Not until December will there be enough for New York City's 10,000 doctors to use.