The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-10

tient and through him to his relatives and friends. will materially aid in pro- tecting many who are exposed to the | disease. For this reason alone every person infected with tuberculosis I should spend several weeks or months | in some well conducted sanitarium. The State and municipal authorities spend thousands to prevent an epi- | den,ic of smallpox or yellow fever
 and every dollar is wisely expended l yet almost nothing to prevent the l spread of a disease which destroys a | hundred times as many of our citizens.
 and which entails far greater and more
 prolonged, sufferings than both of | those diseases, besides the direful ef-
 feet on the offspring of its unfortu- nate victim. 4
 If tuberculosis could be managed l by the health authorities, as are the I other infectious diseases. 1t would only
 be a question of time before 1t would
 become as rare a disease as smayy-
 pox. At this time. in some cities. every case of tuberculosis is required
 to be reported to the health officers.
 who visit the patient and instruct him 1 and his family as to. the methods to l employ to prevent the spread of the l disease. The patient is not interfered | with in any way, except that he is
 expected to employ the usual meth
 
 | follow the simple rules of hygiene to protect those with whom he comes in
 contact. After the removal or death
 of the patient. the patients room is kdisinfected just as for other infectious
 diseases. This is the plan adopted in | New York city. more than ten years ago, and which, with the other meth ods of carrying on the crusade against I tuberculosis, has resulted in a decrease | of more than 20 per cent in deaths from tuberculosis.
 The early diagnosis of the disease | Is matter of the greatest importance, not only because 1t will save the lives of many who will certainly die if the 1 disease progresses, but it will aid in ! lessening infection; because 1t will give the physician an opportunity of | instructing the patient and his family l in the hygienic measures necessary to prevent the spread of the disease be- | fore the home has been infected. Since the tuberculosis patient is dan gerous to his friends and the commu- nity only from his ejected sputum and directly in proportion to. his habits of | splitting and in the disposal of his spu- tum. the anti-spitting ordinances. | which are already enforced in large cites in all public vuiidings. depots. | cars and streets. are doing good by | iessening the chances of breathing in- IectiOu. IHe pest method or QlSpoSinE
 of the sputum is to expectorate in pa- per cups, or something that can be burned, before the sputtm has time to dry; or to expectorate into solu- tions of creolin or by sol antiseptics that not only destroy the germs but | liquify the sputum. If every person
 who has tuberculosis would for the next ten years thus dispose of the ejecta from their lungs it would prac- tically stamp out the disease.
 There are many other phases of th,s great question that I would like to discuss, but cannot touch upon for fear that I have already taxed your pa- tience. The four proposition that would have you remember above every thing else Is that. first, tuberculosis is well nigh universal disease; SIC. ond. the great majority of cases get well--it is therefore curable; third, it Is transmitted from one person to an- other by means of the dried germs