The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-03-01
SANITARY NOTES
Wednesday, February. 26

Wednesday, February, 20.
We call it the common house fly,
but we could better call it the filthy
fly" and also the typhoid fly, because
1t Is SO commonly found. on infected
filth. But it can spread diseases other
than typhoid. There are various
dysenteries and dirrhoeas Of obscure
cause but nevertheless communicable.
Babies in particular are affected by
intestinal disorders which are infec-
tlous They are called sinfantile
cnoiera, cholera nostras," summer
complaint and other indefinite titles.
But whatever the name Of the fell dis
ease which takes the baby from the
arms OF its mother forever, it does not
make the grief any less sharp or the
loss any less keen.
When the causes of deaths Of in
fants one year and under are charted
each year 1t is found that a little over
20 per Cent, lie, one-quarter were due
to diarrhoeas and ententis. OF course
all cases cannot be blamed on the fly
because bowel trouble may be due to
bad milk supplies aggravated by hot
weather. But much of this kind Of
disease is caused by bacteria and in
lection is favored by warmth and flies
OF summer. Investigators have shown
that an important relationship exists
between the prevalence of flies and
the occurrence of diarrhoeal disease
among infants.
Flies spread disease germs mechani-
cally by transferring filth which is
carried on their bodies and legs. to
food or dicetly to hands or mouths of
persons, particularly small children. 1t
is we'll known that little white funerals
are more common in the districts
where from ignorance or poverty. flies
swarm and pc protection by screens
are made against them.
This is a condition too common in
this part Of the country. while it is
more liable to afflict people who live
outside cities. nevertheless with the
heavy soil pollution that exists in this
city there is no reason why children
who go about barefooted land prac-
tically all do in the warmer weather).
should not become infected.
Hookworm disease is a condition
Of small worms. These worms are
about the size of a No. sewing
thread aid vary is length from one
quarter to one-half inch. HookworE1
disease is more prevalent in the warm
err climates, the southern states of our
own country having many cases of this
disease.
The hookworms gain entrance into
the body through the skin. Mud or
dirt which has been contaminated by
the intestinal filth from persons who
have the disease are the means OF
spreading the infection from one per
son to another. From this contami-
mated mud dirt the worms bore
through the skin, producing an intense
itching which is variously called toe
Itch" ground itch" or dew poison"
Within about six weeks after going
through the skin these little worms
appear in the intestines where they
attach themselves to the wall of the
intestine. Each worm draws a drop
of blood earh day. makes a small ulcer,
injects a small amount of poison anu
lays 300 to 5000 eggs each day. The
eggs are thrown off in the bowel dis
charges and are likely to infect other
persons dnless subjected to proper
disposal HoOkworm disease is pre-
vented by proper sewage disposal; that
is, by the construction and use of
sanitary privies or water-closets
The remedy against this disease has
been completely prescribed for Pen
sacola. While it MAY be considered