The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1898-08-20
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
The View which n Regular PracticinS
Physician Takes i'm Regard to the Eff
forts of County and State Boards of
Health to Stamp Out Infectious Dis
eases.
LFor the Democratie Advocate. !

For the DemOcrulle AuFOcdtc.I
First Are county and state boards of health
useful or necessary? | answer that they undoubt-
edly are both.
end Are they thorough? No, no, far from it.
They do the best they can, but they do not thor
oughlv fill the bill for which they have been ere
ated The new law of the State of Maryland re-
quires that whenever any householder knows that
person within his family house has diphtheria,
membraneous Group, scarlet fever, measles, mumps,
whooping cough, typhoid fever smallpox or any
other infectious contagious disease, he shall I'M
mediatey give notice thereof to the county or city
board of health in which he resides. Then upon
the death recovery or removal of such person or
persons, such of the rooms of the house and such
of the articles therein in the opinion of the local
board of health have been exposed to infection or
contagion from the disease shall be disinfected by
the board of health and written statement OF the
fact of such disinfection by the board of health
shall be given to such householder. Any person
negecting refusing to do these things IS llable
to be punished by fine of 500.
Now we come to the point wish to bring out.
The county or city board of health comes to such
house; suppose Il child has been i'll with scarlet
fever or any other contagious disease. The board
of health causes the carpet TO be taken up, the
floors scrubbed the windows and walls washed,
furniture all removed from the room ana fuml-
gated, then the room thoroughly tumigated They
then give their written statement to the house
holder and go home with clear conscience ana
a sense of duty well performed. But have they
thoroughly performed their duty to the household
er and to their state? | claim they have not
There is not county city board OF health III eX-
istence today that would go further or do more
than have mentioned i'll disinfecting Il room or
house and yet of the greatest sources of conta-
orin hoy bov a
fected and that is the pillows or feather BEDS as
the case may be- that the child lays on. The board
in manner dsintects the exterior of these articles
but they do not and cannot get at the Interior and
thoroughly disnfect the feather that compose the
pillows feather beds. 1t is a fact and needs no
comment that the germs of disease both III the
breath and from the surface of the body of such
case will very readily penetrate the shetland tlck-
ing or pillow cases and find grand field i'll among
| these feathers to increase multiply and develop
the i>ease for other person to lay his or her
| head or body and inhale or absorb these germs
of disease which he contracts and spreads still fur
Their to others, possibly i'll the same way. The
| boards of health cannot open those pillows and
feather beds to dsinfect them because the feathers
| would blow in every direction and make it worse
| than by letting them alone. 1t is not my intention
TO discourage the use of feathers for pillows and
beds for there is substitute that is half so COM
Portable or good when thoroughly disinfected and
| clean Now what every board of health should
have or cause to be used i'll order to make the law
| of use is some kind of machine that will thor
oughly isnfect all the feathers i'll the pillows and
beds upon which patients suffering from infectious
or contag ious diseases have been lying, ana yet
| run no risk of the feathers blowing away ana
spreading the disease germs further. This should
of course be done right at the house that is inject
| ed If each board of health were provided with
| such machine and it were used thoroughly, then
could see the force of this new law and where 1t
would be of use to the public. The law or the
work of disnfection does not go far enough. be-
licve in turning the light on every law that afiecs
the public and let the people see it and its results
| as they are Inventors should be stimulated by Of
fers of reward of some kind to invent such ma
chine and then have the boards of health to thor
oughly test them and if they fill the bill entirely
| to apply them TAXPAYER OF MARYLAND.