The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1911-03-24

tHey are present. obviously then
the problem which confronts both
family and physician, as we'll as
sanitarian, is to control the dis
semination of these various
secretions, discharges, calculations,
and the usual excretions.
The key to the mastery of the
problem is dual one and embraces
I first, isolation; second, desinfection.
The establishment of isolation
often taxes severely the tact and
good judgement of the physician.
If the family is large and lives in a
small house or apartment and on a
limited income, and if the municipal
lily of which they are citizens
affords the luxury of an isolation
hospital. or a hospital or wards of
a hospital are set apart for the
treatment of contagious diseases,
obviously the easiest, and, for the
family, the cheapest way out of the
otherwise complicated situation is
to transport the patient Immediately
to such an institution. Here he
will be under thecare of attendants
who, are accustomed to handling
patients with the disease, and who
are trained to exercise all the pre-
cautions necessary to prevent the
spread of the disease.
But it is possible to make this
disposition of the case in only
limited number of localities. Most
towns have no special provision
for taking care of scarlet fever, and
in such cases the patients must be
treated in their own homes. If
the family has ample means and
lives in large house, large room
or suite of rooms must be set
apart for the exclusive use of the
patient and the special attendant,
who must be secured to give him
exclusive attention. Such an
apartment or suite should, if pos
sible, be selected on the third floor
of the house or at the end of hall,
so that the other members of the
family will have no occasion to GO
near it. The room should be large
and sunny, and all unnecessary
articles, such as curtains, uphol-
stored furniture, and ornaments,
should be removed, so that there
will be as few articles as possible
to which the disease poison may
adhere and which will need to be
cleaned or destroyed after the
recovery of the patient. The at
tendant should not invade other
parts of the house. Food and
other necessities should be left
outside the door of the apartment
occupied by the patient by another
member of the household. Sim
i1arly, everything which requires
removal from the infected apart
ment should be disinfected and
placed outside the apartment, and
thence carried away. The most
important things which are likely
to require removal are dishes,
clothing, and excreta. These
should be disinfected by being
placed in suitable vessels and then
allowed to soak for an hour in a
rs per cent, solution of phenol or
liso1. Things which are of little
or no value and which are COM
bustab1e, such as the remnants of
and pieces of cloth or paper which
have been used about the room,
should be burned. These pre-
cautions of isolation should be car
ried out continuously and strictly
until desquamation is entirely
completed.
After the patient has left the
apartment it should be thoroughly
disinfected. Formerly this was
accomplished by burning sulphur
in the room, but this has been
superseded by formaldehyd, which
is more efficient, is less injurious
to the contents of the room, and is
not more troublesome nor much
more expensive. Drawers of
bureaus and chiffoniers should be
opened and their contents 1oosened,
clothing should be hung on chairs
or lines, and the bedding should be
distributed so that the formaldehyd
gas may easily penetrate every