The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-11-13
Diphsherla and scarle..Fever.
MEANS BYTmCH THEY NAY BIZ ATERTED.
The following will interest many Rich
mond parents Just low: 50.

MEANS (WHICH THEY NAY BE AFERTED.
The following will interest many Rich
mond parents Just now: s
- lFron, the New Haven T,eglster.I
At the meeting Of the Board OF Health
last evening, Health Officer Linsley, in ac-
cordance with the suggestions Of the Board
at q previous meeting, submitted the follow
ing paper. It will be printed in pamphlet
form for general circulation:
Diphtheria is both contagious and an
infectious disease; - 1t u.s., moreover, pre-
eminently one OF the class OF filth diseases
that is, it occurs most frequently and in the
most malignant and fatal form where damp
ness and dirt do most prevail. The means
of protection, therefore, obviously lie in
avoidance Of exposure to- its presence
aud in the most, scrupulous attention to
cleanliness. Absolute isolation OF the sick,
the most rigid purity OF surroundings,
aided by disinfection when required, WoGid
probably exterminate the disease. The
veteran sanitarian DR.. e. d. Snow, OF
Providence, says that where there Is abun-
dant sunlight, dryness, ceanness, ana pure
air, dipththeria cannot prevail. Inc same
| conditions will protect almost as efiectually
from most other dangerous diseases. such
being the truth, neither individuals nor
communities can afford to ignore the fact
that they are in q great degree responsible
| for their own health. s--....,,.,,, '
When a case occurs In any family the
sick person should be placed in a room
apart from the other inmates OF the house,
and should be nursed as far as possible BY
one person only. The sick chamber should
| be we'll warmed. well aired, and exposed to
sunlight: its furniture should be such as
can be cleansed without injury, and all SUI
perfluous things, as window and table-dra-
perry, woollen carpets, and the like, should
| be removed. The family should not minglc
| with other people. Visitors should be
warned OF the presence OF contagious
disease, and children should not be adj
mitted to the house. 49,.
All clothing removed from the patient
should be Mt once placed in boiling water !;
! instead Of handkerchiefs, soft pieces OF
linen or cotton cloth should be used ana
Immediately burned. Disinfectants should
be placed in all the vessels which receive the
cxpectoration or other discharges from the
patient. Disinfectants should also be freely
used in the sick-room. Those which de
stroy bad odors without causing others are
4 best, such as solutions OF nitrate OF lead and
chloride Of zinc. i he. S.. .'.... '.~.
:. The sick person should not mingle with
others until fully recovered, and In cases OF
scarlet-fever until oil roughness Of the skin,
due to the disease, has disappeared, because
the exfoliated skin is especially infectious.
/ The disinfection of the sick room should be
thorough. The walls should be dry-rubbed
and the cloths used burned without shaking;
the ceiling should be scraped and lime
washed. The floor and woodwork should
be washed with soap and water. The
clothing or bedding used by the patient or
n nurse should be purified by boiling for at
least one hour, and should always be cleaned
by themselves, and under no circumstances
should they be sent to a laundry. In case OF
death the body should be placed az early as
practicable in the coffin, With disinlectants,
and the coffin tightly closed.
Children certainly, and in most cases
adults, should. not attend funeral from
house in which 4 death from dlphtherla or
scarlet-icver has occurred But with sulta-
BILE precautions it Is not necessary that the
burial Should be strictly private, provided
that the corpse he not in any way exposed.
Because children are especially liable to
take and to, spread these diseases, ana De-
cause schools afford Il free opportunity Tor
this, every child from any family in which
q case of either OF these diseases has oc'
CURED should be excluded from school,
duu tDt ICduuIl6tCu NV noohSA th1o S'iN
month from the beginning Of the disease,
except upon the certificate OF some compc-
tent physician that it will be safe. 4 vi.
All the above precautions concern the
dangers of contagion but the continued
prevalence OF these diseases in any COM
munity is probable evidence Of insanitary
surroundings and OF sources Of sickness
partially or wholly preyentable. The most
exemplary housewife, whose home is the
very model Of neatness and order, may have
all her efforts defeated, in a sanitary sense,
by a defective slnk-trap or 4 leaky drain
pipe, or nm overfiowing cesspool or an un'
drained cellar, or even by a heap OF decay
ing garbage in her. neighbours yard.
Therefore look we'll to the surroundings
Abolish filth, remove dampness and al
sources OF foul air, especially from living
and sleeping-rooms. Disinfect thoroughly
all suspected places in yards and neglected
corners. "
The following disinfectant is both very
cheap and efficient: Take OF copperas (sul
plate OF irony five pounds, aud dissolve II
three gallons OF water. 49,.
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