Three Counties Against Syphilis (USPHS, 1938)

This film shows the work of the mobile syphilis detection and treatment unit of McIntosh, Glynn, and Camden counties in rural southeastern Georgia. The inside of the mobile clinic is shown. The films shows the route taken and the unit going into canneries, wood pulp factories, logging camps, country dance halls, elementary schools, and churches to treat patients with bismuth and arsphenamine injections. It shows both the Kahn and Wasserman blood tests and explains how to read the results.

Hand Ditching for Malaria Control (USPHS, South Carolina State Board of Health, 1949)

The conditions which necessitate hand-ditching are outlined. The proper engineering and digging techniques for the construction of swamp drainage ditches are presented. Shots include: swamps in South Carolina; inspector in a swamp dipping for larvae; putting the larvae in vials for shipment to a laboratory; spray larvaciding on foot; surveying the swamp for ditching; work crews digging drainage ditches; swamp water running through the ditches; intersections of the ditches.

Target, Tooth Decay (Oklahoma Dept. of Public Health, 1951)

Through the use of a compact series of explanatory examples, this film points out the value of modern dental care with emphasis on the use of fluorides, focusing especially on school-age children and how dental care and education can be delivered in that environment The film describes how a rural community organizes a topical fluoride program and how an urban community institutes fluoridation of the public water supply. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9605135(link is external).

Tobacco or Health (PAHO/WHO, 1988)

Video focuses on the serious hazards of smoking, including how second-hand smoke affects those exposed to it. The move to ban smoking in public places is mentioned, as is regulation of cigarette advertisting and the trend towards banning smoking on airplanes. A series of short vignettes with people miming the grinding-out of a cigarette is shown. Yul Brynner's televised "Don't Smoke" plea recorded shortly before his death from lung cancer is shown.

Behind the Smile (St. Louis District Dairy Council, 1939)

The importance of a healthy, charming smile from childhood to old age is stressed. Good teeth are necessary for a good smile. Proper dental care begins in utero. A physician shows a pregnant woman a chart picturing the foods she should eat. Regular visits to the dentist should begin at about age two years. A dentist waiting room filled with children is shown. A toddler and little boy are examined by the dentist in his surgery. Care of the temporary teeth is advocated. The dentist shows the boy how to brush his teeth.

Gonorrhea: A Film in For Physicians in Technicolor (USPHS, 1943)

Diagnosis of gonorrhea should be done by clinical and laboratory investigation. The physician and patients are shown in the physician's office and examining room. The patients remove their clothing, and the physician takes samples from the end of the penis and makes thin smear slides from them. The techniques for stripping gonococci from male and female patients with chronic gonorrhea are shown in drawings and live footage. The physician is shown getting and preparing a urine sample for laboratory testing for the presence of gonococci, including using a hand-cranked centrifuge.

Public Enemy (USPHS,and Westinghouse, 1960)

Dr. Leroy Burney, Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, and other authorities discuss the hazards of air pollution, its major causes and what is being done to control it. The film shows air sampling apparatus and an exhibit and scenes from the Community Air Pollution Conference in Washington, D.C.

It Takes Your Breath Away (British Medical Association, 1964)

The effect on the lungs of living in a polluted atmosphere is briefly shown on pathological specimens. Two patients are seen, one of whom had to change his job on account of reduced respiratory capacity due to bronchitis. This film uses very evocative footage of polluted city centres and inner city housing ; showing widespread burning of fossil fuels in industry and the home, as well as a hospital. The results are smutty deposits over everything.

Challenge for Habilitation: The Child with Congenital Rubella Syndrome (Texas Children's Hosp, 1977)

This film documents the rubella study group and nursery in the child development clinic at Texas Children's Hospital. The study group worked to rehabilitate 150 children with congenital rubella syndrome, a maternal viral infection that can cause hearing impairment, visual impairment, or motor handicaps. During the 1964-1965 epidemic, an estimated 20,000-30,000 children were born with congenital rubella syndrome.

Rodney (National Tuberculosis Association, 1950)

The film begins with a plea to the viewer to buy Christmas seals. In film graphics, the story of a young man named Rodney is told. Rodney walks through his town and visits his physician for a yearly physical examination. An X-ray suggests tuberculosis. Further tests are done, and the diagnosis is confirmed. The doctor outlines the process of infection and the population at risk. The necessity of rest cure is explained. Rodney is shown in a tuberculosis sanitorium as his physician tells him that tuberculosis can be cured in any climate with rest and proper food.

Plagues and Politics (United States Public Health Service, 1998)

This video traces the changes and growth of the United States Public Health Service from its authorization by John Adams in 1798 as the Marine Hospital Service to its reorganization in the 1970s. Still photographs and film clips are presented along with a detailed narrative history.

Rabies Control in the Community (United States Public Health Service, 1956)

This video describes the symptoms of rabies in dogs and in humans. It relates how rabies can be transmitted from animals, especially dogs, to humans. The video shows how human rabies is treated. It also discusses how rabies can be prevented in a community by getting pets vaccinated, by picking up stray dogs, and through a state wildlife commission's control of the fox population.

Fluoridation (USPHS, 1952)

This film describes fluoridation research, the benefits of adding fluoride to community water supplies, and various types of fluoride and methods of adding it. Grand Rapids, Michigan is presented as the earliest test case of public water fluoridation, and decreases in the incidence of tooth decay in that city are illustrated with bar charts and statistics. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/8600895A(link is external).