Pinks Disease

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pink28Some interesting facts emerged when the numbers of deaths and the death rates for thevarious states were compared. These figures are shown in fig’sFigure No.3Number of deaths in Aust' states.Arrows-date of Calomel legislation.Figure No.4http://www.users.bigpond.com/difarnsworth/pink28.htm (7 of 9) [05/28/2000 1:43:00 AM]
pink28Death rates for under 2 years age.It will be noted that initially high rates existed in NSW and SA with almost insignificantfigures for TAS. The differences between the states may well be a reflection of interestand enthusiasm in diagnosis. Attention is drawn to the arrows in figure 2 AND figure 3which indicate the approximate date when the legislation was introduced in each state tocontrol the sale of teething powders containing mercury. The position of each of thesearrows in relation to the shape of the curves in figure 4 is of particular interest.Discussion.Pink disease is fast disappearing, and will, no doubt, shortly join the long list ofdiseases of childhood which in the last 2 or 3 decades have become rarities, to bedisplayed at a clinical evening. The cause of the disappearance is not clear. Theconclusions to be drawn from figure 2 and figure 4 do not support the implication thatlegislative control of the use of mercury in teething powders is the cause.The fall in both the numbers of children admitted to hospital and mortality rates hadoccurred before the legislation could have been effective. Analysis of teething powdersshowed that voluntary exclusion by manufacturers or pharmacists had not precededthe legislation. It is interesting to note that the trend of mortality in England is similar tothat in Australia and, there, the removal of mercury was on a voluntary basis.It could be argued that over the past decade fewer teething powders were given toyoung children, the mothers responding to the educational efforts of baby health centrehttp://www.users.bigpond.com/difarnsworth/pink28.htm (8 of 9) [05/28/2000 1:43:00 AM]
Page 2 and 3: pink2aACRODYNIA-Nelson's book of po
Page 4 and 5: pink34Acrodynia (the term derived f
Page 6 and 7: pink3430mg/kg daily in 2-3 divided
Page 8 and 9: pink disease, acrodynia, mercury po
Page 16 and 17: pink28THE MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRA
Page 18 and 19: pink28in Brisbane, basing his clini
Page 20 and 21: pink28On August 20, 1953, The South
Page 24 and 25: pink28nurses and others. Unfortunat
Page 38 and 39: pcheek41ACRODYNIA by DONALD B. CHEE
Page 40 and 41: pcheek41GO to NEXT ARTICLERETURN to
Page 48 and 49: pink55,pink disease, acrodynia, mer

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