Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1918-01-28


(Continued)
Scarlet fever, as measles, also begins
with fever, the same degree, 1903.
The first symptom is usually sore
throat or vomiting, and either of these
two occurrences in children should be
looked upon with extreme suspicion
Headache and coated tongue are also
frequent, but in the cases which do not
begin with vomiting, a slight sore
throat may be the only sign. 1t is i'm
portant then, both in scarlet fever and
in diphtheria, which is considered in
the next paragraph, that observation
be keen, tender and constant enough to
detect the indisposition even before a
complaint is made by the child.
Diphtheria is often thought of as
severe sore throat. On the contrary,
the throat symptoms at first tend to be
miIder and the temperature lower than
in ordinary tonsilitis. General lam
guor of weakness, however, are more
noticeable in diphtheria, although the
pain on swallowing may not be mark
ed 1t must be emphasized again that
every sore throat in children, and
above all, in childrens institutions,
justifes medical attention.
There is another form of diphtheria
which is more frequent in younger
than in older children; this is laryn-
geal diphtheria, formerly called mem
braneous Group. Most mothers are ia
r.iliar with the so-called false Group
or catarrhal spasm of the larynX; the
! only serious side of this common dis
ease is its mimicry of laryngeal diph-
! thearia Laryngeal diphtheria can be
distinguished from false Group princi-
pally by the fact that the child be-
comes progressively worse. In false
) Group there is usually no difficulty in
! breathing until the sudden suffocating
spasm comes on-oftenest in the mid
die of the night. After the attack, eX-
cept for hoarseness and a barking
cough, which occur also in false Group,
the child wheezes even after Sigh
stirring around, and uses considerable
muscular effort in taking in and eX-
pelling its breath. In severe cases, it
Is evident that not enough air is reach
ing the lungs.
AS soon as difficulty in breathing is
seen in child the physician should be
sent for without a moments delay.
There are few conditions in medicine
in which prompt action will save SO
many lives Cases OF hoarseness with
a croupy cough in children's institu-
/ ton are sufficiently suspicious to de-
mand medical attention within "a
hours. Still another form of diphthe-
ria must be considered largely from
the opposite point Of view, that Of
danger to other children; this is diph-
liberia of the nose. Discharges from
] the nose which keep up for a week, or
which causes the nostrils to become
sore, should be regarded with suspic-
/ ion until a culture has proven that
they are not due to diphhteria, the
Child meanwhile being kept apart from
others. In nasal diphtheria there may
be other symptoms, or none which
might not be those of a common cold.
Whooping cough is insidious in its
onset, For this reason, no person
who develops coughing spells should
be allowed the freedom Of a children's
institution, as it may be three or four
weeks before the typical whoop is
heard. It is Characteristic Of whoop-
ing cough, even before the whoop de-
veIops, that the cough comes in spells
In learning to recognize the whoop the
most efficient teacher is a child sick
with the disease. The little patient
often feels a seizure coming on, and
runs to a chair or to an adult for
support The coughing becomes so
severe and so frequent that there is
not opportunity to breathe, the face
and hands sometimes are purple, and
fBalIy through the partially closed
throat a long breath is drawn with diff
fculty, producing the sound which is
called the ''whoop." After this, mucus
is expectorated and frequently the
child vomits The attack is usually
repeated Immediately These double
or even triple seizures occur several
times a day, though in some patients
the disease progresses from beginning
to end without a whoop. The decline
of the infection is even more gradual
tnan its onset. For weeks or months
coughing spells continue, becoming