Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1878-08-31
YELLOW FEVER TREAT
MENT.
Correspondence y. o. Picayune

! lIShed an article IN the New
Orleans Republican, for the ben
eft and instruction Of strangers
and persons not acquainted
with the disease and its proper
treatment, which met with the
approval Of the best physicians.
Mr.. Schmidt, president of the
Howard association, had several
hundred copies of the article
struck off and sent up to New
iberia to be distributed among
the people where the fever ragged
with great violence at the time.
Hearing that the fever has again
made its appearance III our
midst, l propose to publish a
few suggestions which may be
beneficial to unacclimated per-
sons. In all my experience
with yellow fever l have never
known case that did not yield
to proper treatment, although |
have heard some physicians ex-
press a contrary opinion. When
ever a person dies with what is
thought to be one or two days
illness, the person must have
had the fever in his system for
days in latent form. This
form is the most dangerous be-
cause it comes unawarcs, and,
therefore, is not apt to be at
tended to in time. Every I'M
acclimated person is liable to
take the yellow fever here dur
ing the summer or fall months.
Sometimes it comes earlier than
at others; one can never feel Sc
cure until after frost. 1t is use
less to say there is no yellow fe-
yer here, and we must not think
about it, that we are not going
to have 1t, and all that. The
surest way to overcome an enc
my is to be prepared to meet
him.
AS preventative we should
not indulge too much in cold
bathing. as that is apt to check
perspiration and drive in the
heat. The sponge bath is all
sufficient. We must try to
avoid being caught out in the
rain and allowing our clothes to
get wet for the same reason.
We should live regularly, take
reasonable exercise, not go too
much in the sun. and do nothing
to overhead the blood. With
these precautions we may es-
cape it altogether. But if it
should come, we must meet it
courageously, adhere strictly to
the following directions, and,
with the help of God, we will
overcome it in every instance;
SYMPTOMS:
Chilly sensations, pains in the
bones, headache, pains in the
back and knee-joints, some
times sickness of the stomach
and vomiting When the fever
shows itself, the skin becomes
dry and hot, the pulse quick
and full, the face red and flush
ed; the eyeballs become red
and painful. lift is not attend
ed to Immediately, the fever
goes to the brain and the patient
becomes delerious.
TREATMENT,
Whenever any of the above
symptoms are apparent, let
the patient be undressed and
put in bed between blankets.
Give a simple dose of medi-
cine, either castor oil or bot |
tie of citrate magnesia. The
latter is more agreeable to take
and more cooling to the blood. |
Get a foot bath that will hold at
least a bucket of water, fill it
two-thirds full of hot water, put
into it nearly a cupful of mus
tard. Put the foot tub on the
bed under the blankets, let the
feet of the patient remain in the
bath fully half an hour, keeping
the blankets well tucked in
around the patient, keep the
hands under the cover and let
the blankets be well tucked in
around the neck. If the head
aches very badly let a cold cloth
be applied to the forehead.
When the foot tub is withdrawn
do not stop TO wipe the feet, but
cover up as closely as possible,
SO as to produce preparation.
Let the foot bath be repeated
while the pains remain in the
bones.
The room need not be kept
too close, on the contrary, it is
better to have fresh air for the
patient to breathe. But do not
let the draft come on the pa
tent, SO as to check the pcrspi-
ration, which must be kept up
while the fever lasts. The pa
ticnt must not be allowed to get
out of bed, sit up, change his
clothes, or take any kind of
food. His drink must be small
quantities of ice water, ice lem
onade' or orange leaf tea. The
latter is an excellent sudorifc.
Ice, crushed in a towel, can be
given in small quantities-this
is very cooling to the stomach.
By all means keep the patient
perfectly quiet and free from all
kinds of eXcitement-he must
not be allowed to become de-
pressed. The nurse must be
intelligent, cheerful and not