The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-10-21

MASKS 7
 My daughter afflliated at Ca fa- nous tuber Il losis sanatorium) writes a reader, and the first day there she questioned thier tech- nique of wearing a mask all morn- ing, then turning the masks inside out and wearing 1t the rest of the day after luncheon. They do this in order to save guaze and my daughter was decidedly overruled. Please give your opinion of this. Should nurse caring for tubercu. lous patients put on freshly ster- ilized mask each time, or is 1t all right to turn the discarded mask in- side out and wear it the second time? (R. S.)
 The so-called mask commonly worn by nurses, physicians, surgeons and other attendants or visitors in operating room, isolation ward or tuberculosis hospital, and by well informed or well advised mothers or others caring for members of the family i'll of respiratory infection. consists of a number of layers of ordinary gauge or washed cheese cloth about s by 10 inches, stitched together around the edges and hav- ing tapes stitched to each corner, so that the mask may be tied in place over nose and mouth by one pair of tapes above the ears tied at back of neck, the other pair below the ears similarly tied.
 Purpose of the mask of course is simply to screen out the droplets of moisture or secretion which spray forth from mouth and nose during coughing, sneezing or talking, for 1t is in these droplets, visible or in. visibly fine, that the germs of the disease are carried to the person who happens to be within spray range, if the disease or infection is spread at all.
 The outside of the mask worn by a nurse taking care of a patient i'll of say, measles, scarlet fever, pneu- raonia. tuberculosis, d diphtheria, grip, flu, may therefore be contam- mated with germs or virus of the disease. If the nurse turns the mask inside out and wears it again after 1t has been so contaminated (per- haps invisibly contaminatedD. she commits a serious breach of aseptic technique and her bad technique is a grave reflection upon the medical supervision of the hospital or san- atorium where such dangerous prac- tice is encouraged or permitted. Nurses working in such institutions deserve better protection than that.
 Careful tests made many years ago indicated that @ gauge mask is efficient in screening out the finest droplets only If 1t is made of not less than ten layers of gauge having g threads to the inch mesh. Usual- ly the sc-called masks one finds in use in operating rooms, hospitals and santatoriums are made os half a dozen or less layers of gauge of coarser mesh, and such masks may look impressive to the untutored laity but are not worth much for prevention of infection. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Aut0clave
 We use pressure cooker--do we retain most of the vitamins on food by this method of cooking2
 (Mrs. A. e.
 AnSwer-Practically there is little If any difference in the proportion of vtiamins saved from destruction by oxidation and heat. between cooking in air-tight autoclave or pressure cooker" and cooking in ordinary open vessel.
 PerniclouS Anemia
 My mother. living in another state, has had pernicious anemia for many years. She is now 82 years old. She is stubborn about receiving liver injections regularly, although we all know her life depends on 1t.
 (N. c. E.)
 AnSwer-One of our readers de-