The news & observer., 1898-07-27
Small pox Exists at Several
Points in the State
DISSEMINATION FEARED
EvtRY COMMUNITY SHOULD BE PREPARED
The State Board of Health, Through lis Secre
tary, Gives information How 10 Prevent
il and How 10 Check IT,

10 the Public: While ;Ac instruc-
tons for quarantine aud di~lnrAi5"n is
s.,i ly tlr ! card several yeacS aSN ~
o,m,I'.uVa With the r,ap'n' a'NltS af
Section 9 of the Act in Relation IL the
Board Of Health really emhody NIL that
is necessary. if faithfully carried ont.
for the restriction of contagious dj.ea SeS,
II is Thought advisable in view Il the
prevalence of smallpox in Aae section 1f
the State. and the strong probability
of its spreading. to issue fd@er md more
specitic directions rs IL the management
OF that particular disease.
In order to be perfectly plain ii may he
necessary to be somewhat elementary
and the well informed health officer must
not consider what is said rs a reflection
upon his intelligence and know"dgc. Ii
should be remembered that this is mere
ly supplement- to the Instructions"
and the two must be read together
We will consider the suhia,t i'll its
relation /. to the patient; >. 10 the p:.S-
sician; 8. to the general puoi,c; 4 to the
municipality, and finally, =, t. VACCINE
ton.
/. The Patient.-Owing to the TEN
dency in human nature to pnt away
disagreeable things it seems that in
many eases the attending physician is
loath to admit that the case is one of
smallpox and calls it chicken-poy utica
ria and even pemphigus. while the peo-
pie. in one locality at least. denominate
it elephant itch" When mistake is
made i'm the diagnosis or until it IS cor
rectly made, no precautions ace taken.
as a rule, and free intercourse with the
patient being allowed, the infection is
spread. The diagnosis is not difficult.
hut as no chances should be taken, the
obviously proper thing to do whenever
there is any doubt about it is to man
age the case as if it We're smallpox.
When smallpox is prevailing every
one with an eruption who Il few days be
fore its appearance had headache. pan
in the back and fever, should be strictly
guarantined until time has settled the
question. Above all things the patient
should be properly cared for. This is
not !, superhuous suggestion-as it ought
to be-for it occasionally happens that
the cry of smallpox produces such an
acute and general panic that the poor
sufferer is more or less neglected. for 4
while at least. There is no excuse for
this, as thoroughly vaccinated persons
can handle such cases with as little
danger as they could measles.
2. The Physician.-The greatest care
should be taken by the physician to avoid
carrying the infection to others. He
should have special suit of clothes dur
ing the warm weather of some material
that will wash-or better. perhaps. a
long gown of linen or cotton. buttonng
close around the neck above the collar
and tightly around the wrists, to be
worn over his ordinary clothes. with a
cap of paper or oiled silk completely
covering his hair. while his feet are pro-
tected by rubber shoes. The garments
should be donned in an uninfected room,
or ont of doors if there is no room. and
removed upon returning to the same
from the room of the patient. If the
disease is present in only one house, the
special suit can be left there, but not
in the room with the patient. If. how
ever there be cases in other houses to
be seen, it can be rolled mp and carried
in close fitting hand bag. TO make
assurance doubly sure it would be well
after the rounds for the day have been
made to hang il up in a box or closet oI
wardrobe in an unoccupied room and
disinfect it with one OF Schering &
Glatz's small formaldehyde lamps. Be
fore going to bed hang it out of the
windows to- remove the formaldehyde
odor. Do not forget to disinfect the
hand bag also, if one is used. Before
leaving. the premises the hands and face
(beard particularly should be washed
with some reliable artiseptic-bichlo
ride of mercury, ] to 1000, or pei
cent. solutiom of carbOlic acid, for eX
ample.
3. The General Public.-The people
should bear in mind the fact that there
is no reason whatever for becoming pan
ic-stricken at the announcement OF small
pox in their community-by no means
such good reason as on the appearance OF
diphtheria or scarlet fever. In small
pox alone of all the contagious diseases
have we a sure reventive-vaccinatiOn
All one has to do in such circumstances
is simply to get his physician TO success
fully vaccinate him and go on his way
rejoicing without the least fear or anx-
iety. Should the disease become epl.
demic and the first vaccination fail t.
take, it would be well for the sake OF
certainty to be re-yaccinated at the end
of Il week 1t is to be borne in mind that
this advice regarding the necessity foi
vaccination applies with almost equa
force to those persons who have beer
vaccinated in childhood and have
reached adult life. For while it is true
that the primary vaccination done il
early life may in most instances pro
tect the person through life this immu
nifty for so long a period can not be as
sured, and to make themselves safe. it is
most advisable to have the vaccination
done again. This will appear reasonable
when it is remembered that if the person
vaccinated in early life does contrac
smallpox it will only develop into IA very