In Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, 715 youngsters out of the city's 6,000
elementary-school children trooped back to classes last week with their
heads covered by white skull caps. After twelve months of battle, the
“Soo” is winning its fight against an epidemic of tinea capitis
among its youngsters , but has
still not been able to stamp out the stubborn disease.Two hundred of the children wearing the cotton caps last week still had
the infection; the others donned caps purely as a precaution.The city's ordeal began in the spring of 1950: five cases cropped up,
caught hold, and multiplied with raging speed. By winter, 1,459
schoolchildren had infected scalps, and the Soo was in the midst of the
worst ringworm epidemic ever recorded north of the Rio Grande. Itching
heads were thrust under ultraviolet lamps to make the disease show up,
shaved, scrubbed, treated with salves, and encased in sterile white
cotton caps to prevent spreading. Doctors tried new drugs by the score.
Special X-ray clinics were set up, and skilled radiologists were
brought in to treat the itchy youngsters.Slowly, the epidemic was beaten to a standstill. By last week 1,357
cases had been stamped out, and only the most stubborn cases still
required the swaddled-head treatment. With care and hard work, Sault
Ste. Marie confidently expects it can throw away the last of its white
cotton caps next spring.
