The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-01-25
ideas for mnrnen,

The Prevention n Care Of Typhoid
Fever with Details Of the Cold Bath
Treatment" was the subject of the lee
ture given by DR.. James c.. Wilson. re-
Gently in the course for the benefit Of the
Jefferson Maternity Hospital. Philadel-
phia. y 81
Typhoid-or enteric fever, as 1t is CALI
ed In military and naval reports-derives
its great interest from the fact that it
Is the great infectious disease of this
historic epoch. DR.. Wilson said:-Each
historical period has special prevalent
disease, directly due to methods of Nv
ing of that special time, Cleanliness and
hygiene are the great exterminators Of
disease. It is a saying among doctors
that 'the plague went out when the shirt
came in"
Typhoid fever is the great disease of
this period. In this city nearly 5000 cases
occur every year, with a mortality OF
400 or 500.
In order to prevent such a disease. DR..
Wilson said 1t is necessary to get at
the cause, a Fundamental principle in all
scientific research. h cause in this
case is a microbe, a minute organism,
SO small that 1t occupies the ultimate re-
gion of microscopic vision. In one-twelfth
of an inch there are 100000 of blood
corpnscles. A typhoid bacillus is about
one-third of a blood corpuscle. This
little creature is . human parasite grow
ing and developing with astounding
rapidity. 1t is swept about in the blood
current and grows in little clumps in
the tissues and in the liver and spleen.
They take from the tissues the susten-
ance they want and create chemical
changes, forming ~toxines, which poison
the system.
This typhoid bacillus not only grows
inside the body, but it lives and grows
outside and enters again into other bod
les. They leave the body by discharges
from the bowels and kidneys and through
the sweat of the patient-s 1t retains its
vitality and thrives in water, In sewage,
in grounds wet by ~cesspools or sewage,
and in waters which are made brackish
by sewage. They live even in ice, and
possess vitality even after repeated freez-
ings and melting again. They grow in
filters n in siphons of settler water. In
milk they show extraordinary rapidity
of growth, without changing in the least
the appearance of the milk.
The sources of thin disease were dwelt
upon strongly by DE- Wilson. The fluids
which enter the body are the principal
media. The drinking water, defiled by
the excavations of typhoid patients, is
the chief cause. The picture which DR..
Wilson drew of the possible typhoid
patients living along the Schuylkil VAL
ley was not a reassuring one to an audi
ence of Philadelphians. The high death
rate of this city is directly due to the de-
filed water.
Milk is next In importance, and the con-
tagion is not derived from the COW, but
sometimes the simple washing out Of
milk cans with defled water Is the cause
of all b trouble. Vegetables eaten raw
which have been washed with defiled
water. raw oysters which have been fat
tened in waters made brackish by sew
age. even the house fly which travels be-
tween . patient and a nurses food are
some of the avenues by which the danger
Gus little microbe travels from body to
body.
DR.. Wilson said that the pity of the
present g1eat mortality from typhus fever
is that it is really such a preventable
disease, and he agreed with the French
Wh0 S6<4J AAS ~ - y - 1O44l6
man dead from typhoid fever, / experience
the feeling Of witnessing a homicide"
To prevent the spread OF the c~ontagion,
FIRST, every discharge from bowels or blad-
der should be Immediately disinfected.
This disinfection can be dome with oil of
vitriol or muriatic acid Probably the
most effieacious Is ordinary chloride of
lime used sixteen ounce to a gallon Of
water. Fresh Stacked hme-one part of
lime to two parts water-is very good,
and carboNc acid in the proportion. of oae
to ten is excellent, but requires longer
exposure. The disfnfectants should be al
lowed to act not less than one-haf hour.
In touching on the general treatment of
typhoid cases, DR.. Wilson spoke of the
overgrowth Of lymph In the tntestines,
and the formation of a large slough
which often separates and injure the blood
vessels. breaking often into the peritoneal
cavity. thus inducing peritonitis. This
possible condition Indicates that the
bowels should be kept in small quanti-
ties and only such kin as will leave a
small residuum. A large room, Quietude.
fresh air, absence Of exciting subjects,
light covering covering and skilled.
judicious, tactful. nursing are the other
factors necessary for recovery. A single
bed makes 1t easier to handle cases, very
often two beds are better. as a patient
is often benefited by a change from one
bed to another. Sometimes a change
from room to room at morning and night
has had a wonderful effect in restless pa
tients.
The theory Of absolute rest for typhoid
patients, DR.. Wilson thinks a great mis-
take. Rest Ices not hel p the circulation
neither blood nor lymph is stimulated
and congestion follows.
DR.. Wilson is a devoted disciple of the
Brandt sor cold water treatment for ty-
phoid patients, and he spoke of its work.
fngs and results with enthusiasm. show
ing by statistics the great lessening made
IN the mortality of typhoid cases by its
use.
Ernest Brandt, he told his audience, is
a water cure doctor who lived in Stet-
tin, Germany, who wrote a book on the
water cure, in the early COS, which re-
ceived no attention whatever. When the
Franco-Prussian war broke out, a num-
Der OF French soldiers were quartered
in Stettfn, and typhoid broke out among
them. Brandt was given charge of the
cases, to which he applied the cold water
treatment with great success. The
French soldiers took the idea back to
France, where it was Immediately adopt
ed, especially In Lyons, where a hospital