Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1886-01-27
TYPHOID FEVER,
Causes of Its Existence and Methods OF Dis


The causation OF typhoid or enteric
fever is involved in great obscurity.
Some of the best authorities believe it
may originate de noUo in other words,
as the great exponent of this theory,
DR.. Murchison, states it: ''The poi
son of enteric fever is contained in the
emanations from certain forms of pGtre-
flying organic matter,' and sis 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 the
later ones in the relation of cause to
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-
tification of the typhoid germ has not
yet been satisfactorily determined, and
mystery now surrounding the produc-
ton of the disease to be cleared away.
In regard to the means by which the
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 ty-
phoid epidemics. Notable instances of
this have occurred in our country, as
in Syracuse in 1876, and the more re-
cent epidemic at Plymouth. Pa.
Milk has also many times been the
medium through which the typhoid
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 example
Of this medium of contagion was the
outbreak of typhoid at Marylebone,
London. Within few weeks one hun
dred and twenty-three families were
attacked. Mr.. Radcliffe traced the
cause of this to milk which came from
a particular farm on which water used
for dairy purposes contained excse-
mental matters from d 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. These
facts should stir up all health officials
to the vital Importance of the most
rigid scrutiny of the milk supplied to
the people under their charge, and
should lead our judges to infiict the
severest penalties upon those detected
in the adulteration of this most essen
tial food. That this disease may be
contracted by those who nurse the sick
is possible, but if this ever occurs it is
extremely rare. The discharges from
the intestines are believed to contain
the infective material; and in the pres
ent state of our knowledge, to bury
these discharges in the ground or to
cast them into the sewer without pre-
vious disinfection, must be looked up
on as criminal. 1t is not difficult to
understand that the infective material
of such undisinfected discharges may
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 is
doubtless the explanation of the origin
of those cases which are ascribed to
sewer gas.
Typhoid fever is eminently & disease
of the autumn, and it's greater preva-
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 the
fever is a matter of conjecture, and as
they are entirely beyond our control
we must in our endeavor toward pre-
vention and restriction pay strict at
tention to cleanliness in all it's 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 solu-
tions of chloride of lime, of chlorinated
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, would, it would seem, help to
account for the large representation of
typhoid fever victims in the ranks of
their patrons. 4 study of typhoid cases
with reference to this point would be
and doubtless instructive.