The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1886-01-05
TYPHOID FEVER.
Causes Of It's Existence and Msshods sfna>.
Deminataon.

t1SnOiO teveHs
Causes Of It's Existence and Msshods 49,
semination.
he causation of typhoid or enseyie
fever Is involved in great obscurisy.
Some of the best authorities believe i
may originate de sovo +; in other word,
rs the great exponent Of this theory,
DR. Murchison, states il. The poi
son of enteric fever is contained in ths
emanatiOns from certain forms of putre-
flying organic natter" and "is often
generated by focal fermentation.
Other authorities, equally good, hold
that the appearance of typhoid fever
cases necessarily presupposes the ex-
istence of case which stands to ia
later ones in the relation of cause q
effect, and that, If this case is not dis
covered, it is simply because the evil
dence is obscure, or the investigator in
experienced. Unfortunately the iden-
LITIGATION of the typhoid germ has nos
yet been satisfactorily determined, and
until it is we can hardly expect the
mystery now surrounding the produs-
ton of the disease to be cleared avsy.
In regard TO the means by which Ne
fever spreads, there is more unanimity
of opinion. The water of wells which
has become impure from the leaking Of
vaults and cesspools has been shown
over and over again to have caused ~
phoid epidemics. Notable instances q
this have occurred in our country, -
in Syracuse in 1876, and the more ~
cent epidemic at Plymouth. Pa.
Milk has also many times been ths
medium through which the typhoia
poison has been disseminated. Impure
water has been used to wash out The
milk cans, if, indeed, it has not served
other purposes, and the milk has thus
become infected. A striking e..ampls
of this medium of contagion was ths
outbreak of typhoid at Marylebone.
London. Within few weeks one hun
dred and twenty-three families were
attacked. Mr.. Radcliffe traced -
cause of this to milk which came iron
a particular farm on which water used
for dairy purposes contained excre-
mental matters from . patient suffer-
ing from enteric fever Immediately
before and at the time of the outbreak.
Epidemics occurring at Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Bristol and Dublin have
also been traced to milk. TheD
f~c's should stir up all health cfiieiAls
to tie vital Importance Of the mos
rigiG scrutiny OF the milk supplied .
the people under their charge, and
should lead our judges to infiict the
severest penalties upon those detected
inf hn aHtrtf Of
Ia. food. That this disease MAJ b.
contracted by those VINO nurse the sick
is possible, but If this ever occurs it =
extremely rare. The discharges from !.
the inteStines are believed to contain
the infective material; and in the pres
ent state of our knowledge, 10 bury
these discharges in the ground or -
cas-; them into the sewer withou pre-
vious disinfection, must be lookett up
on as criminal. It is not difficult .
understand that the infective material
OF such undisinfected discharges msy
cling to the interior of drain tiles and
sewers, and through defective plumb
ing find admission to the dwelling and
sleeping rooms of the well. This p
doubtless the explanation Of the origin
VI siOoc eases WHicu oEc occIlDcU -
sewer gas.
Typhoid fever is eminently disease
Of the autumn, and its greater preVs-
lence at this season of the year is at-
tributed by some to the decay of vege-
tation; others have found its prevalence
to depend upon the rise and fall of The
ground water. Just how far these con-
ditions affect the prevalence of tho
fever is matter of conjecture, and .
they are entirely beyond our control
we must in our endeayor toward pre-
ventiOn and restriction pay strict at
tentiOn to cleanliness in all its forms,
and especially to the thorough disin-
lection of discharges from patients.
For this purpose the committee on dis
infectants of the American Public
Health Association recommend soiu-
tons of chloride of lime, of ehlorinated
soda, or of bi-chloride of mercury.
In our cities the typhoid patients are
largely recruited from the ranks of those
of ample means, who during the sum-
mer spend their time in the country,
and often at the most fashionable
watering places. 1t is notorious that
these resorts are, as rule, unsanitary
in their appointments. The crowding
Of human beings in such places, with
the consequent accumulation Of human
waste, GOULD, it would seem, help %
account for the large representation Of
typhoid fever victims ID the ranks of
their patrons. A study of typhoid cases
with reference to this point would b
and doubtless instructive
Science.