The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-09-06
CONSUMPTION.
HOW THE DREADED DISEASE
MAY BE PREVENTED. .
Valuable Suggestions Emenating
From the New York Board
OF Health-A Living Germ
Causes Consumption. Z

mulate brief and comprehensive state
mert regarding the contagiousness d
tuberculosis and the means Of protection
therefrom, have submitted the following
The disease known as tuberculosis, an
when affecting the lungs as pulmonary II
bercuiusis Consumption, is very common I
the human being and in certain Of the }
nestle animals especially cattle. About OF
fourth of all deaths occurring in the huner
being during adult life ara caused by it, and
nearly one half Of the entire population at
some time in life acquires it. The disease
the same in nature in animals and in M
and has the same cause.
1t has been proved beyond a doubt that a
living germ, called the 81 tubercle bacillu
Is the cause and the only cause of tubergl.
losis. 1t does not seem necessary TO state tae
facts upon which the assertion is based, iOr
the observation first made by Robert Koeh
In 1852 has been confirmed so often and 50
completely that it now constitutes one of tle
most absolutely demonstrated facts in M :
cine.
tuberculosis may affect any organ Of 3e
body but most frequently first involves e
lungs. When the living germs find their " J
into the body they multiply there, if favOral ?
conditions for their growth exist, and pre- ~ /.
small new growths or nodules (tubercle .
which tend to soften. The discharges fro
these softened tubercles containing the / :
ing germs are thrown off from the body !
rnese discharges rsn.
stltute, in part, Misrepresentation Thsgerms
thus thrown OF do not grow outside the liv-
ing human or animal body, except ur1ler ar
aiicia conditions, although they may retain
their vitality and virulence for long periods
Of time even when thoroughly dried. As
tuberculosis can only result rom the action
faI hot
been said that when the disease is acquir
must result from receiving into the body The
living germs that have come from some
other human being or animal affected with
the disease.
1t has been abundantly established that
the disease may be Transmitted BY meat or
milk from the tubercular animal. The milk
glands IN mich cows often become affected
with the disease when their lungs are in
volved, and the milk from such animals NAV
contain the living germs and is capable OF
producing the disease. Among stall-fed
dairy cows twenty per cent. or thirty per
cent. are sometimes found to be affected with
the disease. Tubercular animals are also
frequently killed for food, their flesh some
times containing the germs, and if not thor
oughly cooked is capable of transmitting the
disease. Boiling the milk or thoroughly
cooking the meat DESTROYS the germs Al
though the meat and milk from tubercular
animals constitute actual and important
sources Of danger, the disease is acquired. as
a rule, through its communication from man
to man
tuberculosis is commonly produced in the
lungs (which are the organs most frequently
affeccted) by breathing air in witch the living
germs are suspended as dust. The material
Wnlch Is coughed up, sometimes in large guam
titles, by persons suffering from CONSUMPTION
contains these germs, often IN enormous nun
beFs This material when expectorated. fre-
quently lodges II places where it afterward
drles, as on the streets, floors carpets, cloth
ing, handkerchtefs, etc. After drVing. in one
way or another, it is very apt to become pull
verlzed aud iioat in The air as dust.
IL Las been shown experimentally that dust
colected IRON the most varied points in hos
pilal WARDS, asylums, prisons, private houses,
ETC where consumptive patients are present
Is capable Of producing tuberculosis in ami
mals when used for their incubation. Such
dust may retain Tor weeks its power of pre-
ducing the disease. On the other hand. dust
collected from rooms in institutions or houses
that nave not been occupied by tubercular
patients does not produce the disease when
used Tor the incubation Of animals
1hese observations show that where there
are cases Of pulmonary tuberculosis under
ordinary conditions the dust surrounding
them often contains the ''tubercle bacili. 3
and persons inhaling the air in which this
dust Is suspended may be taking in the living
germs. Ii slonld, however be distinctly IN
derstood that the breath of tubercular pa-
tlents and the moist spnIum. recaiZ- ~
proper cups, are not elements of danSefs-s,Ifs
only the dried and pulverized sputum Thsst
breath and moist sputum are free from dangef'
because the germs are not dislodged from
moist surfaces by currents of air. II all dis
r. hn r-nN nr r.F
from the body the greatest danger of comuu-
nication from man TO man would be re
moved
In then follows, from what has been said,
that tuberculosis is a distinctly preventable
disease. 1t is a well-known fact that some
persons and especially the members of GER
tam families are particularly liable 10 tuber-
culosis, and this liability can be transmitted
from parents to children. So marked and
90 frequent is this liability and so frequent is
the development Of the disease in particular
families that the affection has long been con-
sidered hereditary. We now know that
can only be caused by the en-
trance Of the germ into the body, and that
this transmitted inability simply renders the
individual more easy prey to the living
germs when once they have gained entrance.
The frequent occurrence of several cases of
tuberculosis in a family is, then,
~ ne ca pldlAcu Lub On the SlJDO5lUOn blab
the disease itself has been inherited. but that
i has been produced after birth by transmits
slon directly from some affected individual.
w here the parents are affected with tuber-
,ulosis the children from the earliest mo-
ments Of life are exposed to the disease IN
der the most favorable conditions for its
Transmission, for not only IS the dust of the
house likely to contain the baciIli, but the re
also between parents and children,
hnf he =
Of that close and intimate nature especially
favorable for the Transmission by direct con
tact
If, then, tuberculosis is not inherited, the
question Of prevention resolves itself princi-
pally into the avoidance of tubtrcular meat
and milk and the destruction of the dis
charges, especially the sputum Of tubercula4l
individuals. As to the first means of com-
those measures of prevention
alone answer therequirements which embrace
the governmental inspection of dairy COVE
and of animals slaughtered for food and the
rigid exclusion and destruction of all those
found to be tubercular.
For the removal of the second means of
i. G., the. sputum of tuber
cular Individuals, the problem is simple wher
the Patients are confined to their rooms or
houses. Then, wooden or pasteboard cu)s,
with covers, should always be at hand for the
iNSIJtlDI VI NAt spuLlIu. lueSe cups are SUP
ported In simple racks, and at least once daily,
or more frequently if necessary, should be re
moved from the racks and thrown with thOir
contents into the fire. a cheap and efficient
cup answering this purpose is now on the
market and is supplied by the druggists.1 4
The disposition Of the expectOration of Ierr
sons who are not confined to their rooms OF
homes is far more difficult problem. The
certainly should not be dis
means for its collection seems to helm handker-
chiefs, which, when soiled, should at the ear!
LEST possible moment be soaked in a solution
Of five per cent. carbolic acid and then boi'ed
and washed. Handkerchiefs thus soiled are
exceedingly dangerous factors in distributing
tubercle bacilli, for when the sputum be-
comes dry it is easily separatedin flakes from
the cloth and then soon becomes pulverized
and suspended as dust.
1t becomes evident from what has been
said that the means which will most certainly
prevent the spread Of this disease from one
individual to another are those Of scrupulous
cleanliness regarding the sputum. These
means lie largely within the power of tho
affected individual. It is Furthermore to be-
remembered that consumption is not always.
as was formerly supposed, fatal disease,
but that it is in very many cases distinctly
durable affection.
An individual who is well on the road to
if ne does not with the greatest
care destroy his sputum, diminishes greatly
his chances Of recovery by self-inoculation.
While the greatest danger of the spread
of this disease from the sick to the well is in
private houses and in hospitals, yet if this
danger IS thoroughly appreciated it is, for
the most part, quite under control through
the immediate destruction of the sputum
and the enforcement Of habits of clea1lli-
ness. But in places Of public assembly, such
as churches and theatres. particularly the