“Well, I told Manny,” said the Health Master in measured tones. “Must I be the one to tell Julia, too?”
“Julia!” cried the mother. “Tell Julia?”
“Some one must tell her.”
“That child?”
“Fourteen years old, and in high school. Last year there were ten known cases of venereal disease among the high-school girls.”[[3]]
[3] These and the following instances are based on actual and established medical findings.
“How horrible!”
“Bad enough. I have known worse elsewhere. In a certain small city school, several years ago, it was discovered that there was an epidemic of vice which involved practically the whole school. And it was discovered only when venereal disease broke out. Our school authorities are just beginning to learn that immorality must be combated by watchfulness and quarantine, just as contagious disease must.”
“How was the outbreak in our high school found out?” asked Grandma Sharpless.
“In a curious and tragic way. One of the boys developed a sudden and serious inflammation of the eyes. At first the ophthalmologist to whom he went was puzzled. Then he began to suspect. A bateriological analysis showed that it was a case of gonorrhoeal infection. It was by a hair’s breadth that the less infected eye was saved. The sight of the other is lost. Examination showed that the disease was confined to the eyes. By a careful bit of medical detective work, the physician and the principal of the high school determined that the infection came from the use of a bath-towel in the house of a fellow-pupil where the patient had spent two or three nights. This pupil was examined and found to have a fully developed case, which he had concealed, in fear of disgrace. Consequently, the poison is now so deep-seated in him that it may be years before he is cured. He made a confession implicating a girl in the class above him. A rigid investigation followed which brought the other cases to light.”