The Mankato free press., 1908-07-24

l tdSC. hC hiCStiOh 10 thC C<NSiShSh
and urine of the patient, and some
times in the saliva. The patient afte
recovery often remains infectious fo
some weeks or months.
| No one ever, catches typhoid feve
except by getting into his mouth som
of the excrement, urine, or saliva o
one who already has, or has recent,
recovered from typhoid fever or is in
| fected with the germs of the disease
! At first sight it might seem tina
| this cannot be true, for no one woult
ever take willingly or knowingly an,
of these things into the mouth. Bu
as matter of fact, people are con
tinually catching typhoid fever from
Others, always in just this way-nevel
in any other way.
If one will stop and think carefully
gusting way of catching" typhoid
fever is not only possible, but can and
must happen all the. time; and is in
fact the only way the disease is car.
ried. For instance, the discharges of
patient thrown out or buried in
gravelly soil near we'll may soak
through the soil into the well, or the
discharges may be thrown or washed
into stream. The persons who drink
water from such a we'll or stream
drink the discharges also, much diluted,
it is true, and of those who drink
such water some become infected.
But the water route is only one
of the many ways in which excrement,
urine, and saliva pass from the patient
into other peoples mouths. The most
common of the routes other than wa
ter is by way of the hands, and few
of the ways that infection travels by
the hands, are given here in. detail.
One may never have thought of these,
but once thought of they can never
be forgotten again because the whole
thing is so plain, and SO disgusting.
There is nothing mysterious about the
of typhoid fever.
The Patient-To begin at the begin
ming. A typhoid patient is usually
helpless, and everything must be done
for him; he must be washed, his nose
and mouth wiped, and his bedclothes
changed by some one else. He must
be fed and given medicines by an
he must have a bed pan or
urinal placed in position and removed
rs necessary. Often he requires in
lection into the bowel; sometimes he]
mas involuntary discharges before al
Ded-pan can be placed in position.
Sometimes his temperature must be
,aken in the bowel. After the use of
,he ed-pan or urinal it is difficult to
lean his body thoroughly, and even
lfter an amount of washing which re-
moves all visible dirt, the infection
'emains as numerous particles of mat
er on the skin or sheets or night
clothes. AS the patient tosses about |
n bed these particles are spread from
kin to sheet, and back again, until the |
whole lower part of the patients body |
ess particles of excrement and urine |
very small particles and very thin,
10 doubt. leaving not even stain to
how their presence, but present all
he same. A particle. of excrement,
pread out upon the skin so thin as
o be invisible, may contain millions
# the bacteria which produce the dis
ase.
Dangers to the Attendant-It must
e perfectly clear to anyone who con-j
iders these facts for moment that
10 attendant can touch the body or
edclothes or urinal or ed-pan or in
Getting syringe or thermometer or any
hing else which comes into contactd
1ith the patients body or legs or
heets, without great chance of trans
erring at least a few of these bac-
eria to the hands. Now, everyone's
ands 60 often to the lips and MOUTH
very day, consciously or unconsciously.I
Watch anyone and see, or notice howl
ften you do this yourself. If there E
e on your hands any of the dis
harges of typhoid patient, considerl
ow extremely likely it is that you
ill transfer them to your mouth. II
Dangers to Visitors-The patient'st
wn hands also touch his own body, his
wn sheets. ETC.. as much or more thanl
he attendants hands do, and the pa
ent's hands therefore become infected {
kewise. The patient touches his ownlt
ice, pillow, books, medicine glass il
Doons, plates, etc.. with his infected Il
ands, and these, in turn. become in
,cted. If the, patient shakes hands Il
18th visitor or if the visitor touches Is
My the patients forehead with the Ii
ngers, infection is likely to be trans 7,
erred to the visitors hands. Merely
laking up pillow or settling the It
leets to make the patient more com It
,rtable is likely to infect the hands Il
the one who does it. 1t
Dangers from the Nurse to Others-Ia
Mt the persons who come into con- t
lct with the typhoid patient directly II
-e not the only ones who are in #
anger. Anyone who eats food handled E
Y person who has been in contact t
ith the, typhoid patient is likely told
Ike into the mouth the infected ma Il
rial from that persons hands; for v
stance. it has happened over and over I
yain that hotel or restaurant wait b
IS, nursing sick relative and also u
aiting on table, has transferred e
'phoid fever from the patient to the Il
'arder by handling the boarder's food
st after she has emptied the sick r
rson's bed-pan. In private families e
e mother often acts as nurse for the a
TX person and at. the same time pre- a
res meals for the rest of the fam o
Food-The hands of the house nurse il
fected with discharges from the pa ts
mt. transfer some of it to the bread n