The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1914-06-26

! these insects is well recognized.
Back and forth from privy vault to
eating table wander these bearers OF
infection. At the time of the Span
h-American war when lime was
used in the camp latrines, flies with
their legs whitened with lime were
) afterward seen walking over the food
on the mess table. Conditions favor
ing fiy-borne typhoid fever are espe-
cially favorable on the farm as we'll
as in military encampments, lumber
or construction camps, and the like.
Reduction in the number of flies,
which can be effected especially by
elimination of their breeding places,
of which horse manure is one of the
most common, together with proper
disposal of excretal refuse, will great
ly diminish if not altogether remove
danger from this source. A room
or hospital ward containing typhoid
patients should be carefully screened
in fly time. 1t must be remembered
that the fly can act only as the me-
chanical carrier of typhoid bacilli.
However disgusting and annoying the
fy's habits may be, If it does not
have access to material in which ty-
phoid bacilli are present, it cannot
convey typhoid fever.
The fact has already been men
toned that well-defined and active
cases of typhoid fever are not the
only ones that may be discharging ty-
phoid bacilli. The importance Of
healthy typhoid carriers needs to be
still further emphasized here. Re-
cent Investigations have shown that
from to per cent. of all persons
recovering from typhoid fever con-
tinue to discharge typhoid bacilli in
and even years after complete recov-
cry. Occasionally, also, a person
who has never had a recognized case
of typhoid is found to be a carrier.
Plainly, such persons are likely to be
starting points of fresh infections,
especially if, as in the famous case
of the New York cook, Typhoid
Mary" their occupation is concerned
with the handling or preparation of
fool Typhoid Mary" was the cause
of 26 cases of typhoid among the
members of seven different families
for whom she worked.
1t has been found that injection
of killed and harmless typhoid bacilli
will protect against typhoid infection
even in persons particularly exposed
by their occupation or other social
conditions. In the United States
army, in which typhoid vaccination
has been compulsory since Septem-
Der, 1911, the disease has practically
disappeared. In 1909 there we're 173
cases and 16 deaths in a force of
about 5000 men; in 1912 only II
cases and deaths in about $4,000.
From August, 1912, to August, 1913,
there were only 2 cases. Many of
these troops were engaged in maneu
vers in Texas (1911-1912) and were
associated more or less intimately
with the civil population, among
whom typhoid cases were occurring
in considerable numbers.
Txyrhnid
/. Keep away from all known or
suspected cases of typhoid.
2. Wash hands thoroughly before
meals. Do not use roller towels"
8. Use drinking water only from
sources known to be pure, of if this
is not possible, use water that has
been purified by municipal filtration
or by hypochlorite treatment or by
boiling in the household
4. Avoid bathing in polluted water.
5. Use pasteurized or boiled, in
stead of raw, milk.
G. Select and clean vegetables and
berries, that are to be eaten raw,
with the greatest care.
7. Avoid eating fat raw oysters
and. in general oysters and other
shell fish whose origin is not known.
8. Be vaccinated against typhoid
in all cases in which any special ex-
posture is known or feared.
For the community:
/. Insist on the hearty cooperation
of all persons with an efficient health
officer.
2. Require notification and rea-
sonable degree of isolation OF every
known or suspected typhoid case.
8. Exercise strict control over the
disinfection of known typhoid ex-
creta.
4. Insist on pure or purified water
supplies.
5. Require pasteurization Of milk
supplies.
6. Regard all human excreta as
noseib1v dangerous and control their