Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1880-02-12
Diphtheria.

The following circular is issued by the
Board OF Health, Of Boston, for the pur.
pose of more widely extending the knowl
edge Of few well-attested facts CONCERN.
Ing diphtheria, and reminding all per.
sons that greater care should be exercised
to prevent the spread Of this much dread.
cd disease, which Information is as appli-
cable to Austin as 70 Boston:
Diphtheria is contagious and infectious,
ana may be easily communicated, either
directly or indirectly, from person to per
son. 1t may be conveyed directly in the
act OF kissing, coughing, splitting, sneez-
ing; or indirectly by infected articles,
used, as towels, napkins, handkerchiets,
etc. The poison clings with great te-
naclty to rooms, houses, articles of turni.
ture and clothing, and may occasion the
disease, even after the lapse of months.
Diphtheria attacks all classes, at all ages
and at all seasons of the year. By pref
erence it attacks children and those who
are debilit.ted from exposure to filth,
dampness or from foul air from whatever
source. When a case of diphtheria &C.
ours in any family, the sick person should
w PAseSS~ Az AooAA oP0AN AIVA VIC OlucE
inmates Of the house, and should DO
nursed as far as possible, by one person
only. The sick chamber should lie we'll
warmed, exposed 70 sunlight aud we'll
aired; its furniture should be such as
vii! permit OF cleansing without injury,
and all extra articles, such as window
and table drapery, wooden carpets, up
holstered furniture and all hanglngs,
should be removed from the room during
the sickness. The physician and nurse,
rs rule, should be the only persons adj
mitted to the room. Visitors to the house
should be warned of the presence Of a
e.necax aseasS hetfb &c aa na XII
clothing removed from the patient or the
bec should bt: At once placed in boiling
wafer or in a tub of dlslnfecting fluid
(eight ounces of sui phate Of zinc, one
ounce Of carb0lic acid and three gallons
Of wa,sr) by the nurse before being car
ried through the house or handled by any
other person. They may be soaked IN
this fluid for an hour and then placed in
boiling water for boiling. It lis better not
to use handkerchiefs for cleansing the
nostrils and mouth of the patient, but
rather soft rags, which should be imme-
diately thereafter burned. All vessels for
receiving the discharges of the patient
should constantly contain some dislnfec.
ting fluid. Water closets and privies IN
the house should be disinfected daily
with solution of copperas, two pounds
to gallon Of water. Every kind aud
source Of filth in and around the house
should be thoroughly removed, and dis
infcctants freely used. Cleanliness tends
both to prevent and mitigate the disease.
Drains should be put IN perfect order,
and ventilated by four.jnch straight pipe
extended above the highest point of the
roof OF the house in every instance, ter.
minating at distance from any chimney
or other ventilator. Children IN the fami-
ly should not attend school or mlngle
with other children until the patient has
wholly recovered, and all infected articles
have been disinfected.
On the recovery or death of the patient
the most thorough disinfeclion should
follow. The room and all articles in ii
should be at once subjected to the fumes
of burning sulphur as follows: Close the
room tightly and burn 21I pounds of sui
phur to each thousand cubic feet of
space. After four or six hours, open the
room and expose it to the air and sun
light for week. Anything that can be
boiled without injurlng may be so treated.
The walls and ceilings should be dry
rubbed or lime washed, and the floors
washed with soap and water, to which
may be added little carbolic acid.
When death occurs, the body should be
Immediately placed IN the coffin, with
disintectants, and the coffin tightly and
finally closed. No public funeral should
ever take place at the house where the
patient died, nor elsewhere, unless the
coffin remains Theoretically sealed.