A new supersensitive test which pinpoints active cases of tuberculosis was praised here Thursday by Dr. Julius L. Wilson, Philadelphia Pa., director of medical education for the American Trudeau Society.
Dr. Wilson, who addressed a seminar on mycobacterial and myeotic diseases at the Louisiana State University Medical school, said the new test saves a lot of time and worry.
"Although between 30,000,000 and 40,000,000 persons in the United States are infected with tuberculosis only about 100,000 are in need of treatment/1 added the physician, who used to live in New Orleans. "The rest have licked the disease."
Dr. Wilson said the tuberculin test merely tells you that a person is infected with TB but that the new gel diffusion test tells you if a person is in need of treatment.
LUNG CANCER "Tuberculosis associations across the country are contribute ing quite a bit of money to finance wholesale trials of this test," added the physician, who is also director of the Henry Phipps Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Wilson said the test is alsoj being used to track down cases of! fungus infection of the lungs.
Turning to a discussion of lung cancer, the physician said the picture is somewhat discouraging that depsite highly efficient sur-, geons and top surgical techniques the percentage of cures stays more less the same. He said, "They aren't getting to the surgeon soon enough." The physician said the only answer right now is prevention, which is difficult since not too much is known about the cause of lung cancer.
"We believe of course that smoking over a long period of time may be a contributing1 cause," he explained. "We also believe that air pollution is a contributing cause in large cities; that hereditary lung weakness may prove a factor."
OTHER SPEAKERS Other seminar speakers said: 1. If tuberculosis is detected early in children it may be completely eradicated in the next 50 years. .
PHOTO: AMONG THE SPEAKERS at the seminar on mycobacterial and myeotic diseases at Louisiana State university medical school Thursday were (from left) Dr. Felix A. Hughes, Memphis, Tenn.; Dr. Margaret D. Smith, New York city; Dr. John H. Seabury, New Orleans, and Dr. Ernest H. Runyon, Salt Lake City, Utah
