The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-10-17

a"'aSes OF Malignant Diphtheria-I,
v'a'es Death or Leaves Behind Fcarra,
Hleets-Scarcity OF Nurses, &c.

IA ociore reported, diphtheria In its most
sos',. Suant iorm has been raging in some
t.''vns OF flttsylvania. Some acconnts
=; ;'.e v,tn more or less exaggerated: yc, n
nevertheless true that the disease hoe as
I 'u very serious type and caused pre.,
INSTRUCTION OF life wherever n an,s,erod
special TO the New York Herald which
aPpcared IN the Sunday edition OF ,hot
,.i,p n'neria mas been raging in n most
"aiignant form In certain scctio,,s -, p,.,
sssNahia county for the last tw months
nouL reporter spent yesterday ,royeIl;n !,
through the Affected district. srr;ro ,hs
doctors and ascertaining the es.rs number
VI cases, the extent and the TYNE ~ ,ha
u'sease IN radius Of six miles S,y nbv.
siciahs report $50 cases, out Of which siyt,,-
vight died who were treated ly tiem. and
Iiere were fifty-nine others who ei,hnr
uied before the physician came or
were TOO FAR gone TO receive ,nod;'
Sal treatment after his arrival The
ulse'Se appears in different forms In
some cases the patient is attacked with
vomiting, emitting in the last STAGES a
sreehish or blush fluid; in others hIgh g..
VIE ana others congestion of different
paris. Whenever there are sores about tbe
,iiiios they are covered with the false mem-
urahe similar To that in the throat. The
doctors all agree that filth has much 10 do
win the spread and malignity Of the dis.
ease, ana disinfectants are recommended
III Is difficult to secure good nurses in tho
country At best, but when the disease i So
general, and the people avoid if. ~ in
'h> instance, many suffer from lack
OF attention. In one house, with only
one room, man, his wife. and five chill
orcn were down ut one time. and but for
sne persistence OF the physician would
gave suffered for want OF food and care
ihere were other cases in which the family
lad to shroud and bury its own dead. The
physicians inform lis that no one who had
the disease in malignant form has been
iuiIy restored. some are paralyZed: some
out partially; some have dropsy: in nu-
merOuS cases the eyes are affected and
Others are drawn in various WAYS. Sey-
eral Of the patients died Of heart-clot after
they had apparently recovered from diph-
liberia. Reiapses are frequent, and in most
cases fatal.
The treatment Of the disease varies with
dlnerent doctors. They have all abandon
e0 the old style OF hopping out the throat.
All have found that the disease Yields to
N'iiNNlNN Su'llHlitt dnH IRON WHen taken In
time. Some cases died in twenty-four
hours after being seized with the disease.
To show it, fatality and extent, three ply
sicianS informed Us they had over twenty
cases at the same time. Henry Orange bu-
ried three Of his children the same eve
ming, and James Matherly buried two in
the same grave. Some families lost six,
some five. and in some instances every child
died.
The following are some Of the physi-
clans, with post-oilice address, who prac-
ticed in this section together, with the
number Of cases treated. and deaths under
their supervision II. W. Martin. Chatham,
60 eases, II Deaths j. c. Anderson, Mine
ola. 1872 cases, If deaths; Crispen Dickcn-
son. BcTgeT's store. so eases, = deaths j.
\. shelton, Pullcn'S, G3 cases, l. deaths;
X. T. Ramsey. Pullen's, Gj cases, II deaths;
J. W. Wilson, Chatham, % cases. 3 deaths.
The disease i pronounced by all to be ma
lignant diphthcria in some eases it j. al
tended 10y malarial fever, and in others by
scarlct-icyer. The number Of cases is
growing le,, and less in the locality il first
originated, but i spreading in different d.
rcctiOnS.