Year: 1878

accordance with the suggestion OF


the Board at a previous meeting,


submitted the following paper. 1t


will be printed in pamphlet form for


general circulation:


Diphtheria is both contagious


and an infectious disease. 1t is,


moreover. prominently one of the


filth diseases. That is, it occurs


most frequently and in the most


malignant and fatal form where


dampness and dirt do most prevail.


The means of protection therefore,


obviously lie in avoidance of expos.


ure TO its presence and in the most


scrupulous attention To cleanliness.


Absolute isolation Of the sick, the


most rigid purity of surroundings,


aided by distinctions when requir-
ed, would probably eXterminate the
disease. The veteran sanitarian,
DIR. +. NJ. Snow, OF Providence, says
that where there is abundant sun


light, dryness cleanliness and pure
air, diphtheria cannot prevail. The
same conditions will protect almost
as effectually from most other dan
gerous diseases. Such being the
truth, neither individuals nor com
munities can afford to ignore the
fact that they are il a great degree
responsible for their own health.


When case occurs in any family
the sick person should be placed in
a room apart from the other inmates
of the house, and should be nursed
as far as possible by one person
only. The sick chamber should be
well warmed, well aired and exposed
to sunlight; its furniture should be
such as can be cleansed without in
jury, and all superhuous things,
such as window and table drapery,
woolen carpets and the like, should
be removed. The family should
not mingle with other people. Wis
itors should be warned of the pres
ence of a contagious disease, and
children should not be admitted to
the house.


All clothing removed from the
patient should be at once placed in
boiling water; instead of banker
chief, soft pieces of linen or cotton
cloth should be used and immedi-
ately burned. Disinfectants should
be placed in all the vessels which
receive the expectoration or other
discharges from the patient. Dis
infectants should also be freely used
in the sick room. Those which de-
stroy bad odors without causing
others are best, such as solutions OF
nitrate of lead and chloride of zinc.


The sick person should not min
gle with others until fully recovered,
and in case of scarlet fever until all
roughness of the skin, due to the
disease, has disappeared, because
the exfoliated skin is especially in
fectious.


The disinlection of the sick room
should be thorough. The walls
should be dry rubbed and the cloths
used burned without shaking; the
ceiling should he scraped and lime
washed. The floor and wood work
should be washed with soap and
water. The clothing or bedding
used patiently or nurse should be
purified by boiling for at least one
hour, and should always be cleaned
by themselves, and under no circum
stances should they be sent to laun'
dry. In case of death the body
should be placed as early as practi-
cable in the coffin with disinfect-
ants, and the coffin lightly CLOSED.


Children certainly, and in most
cases adults, should not attend a
funeral from a house in which a
death from diphtheria or scarlet fe
yer has occurred. But with suita.
BILE precautions it is not necessary
that the burial should be strictly !
private, provided that the corpse be
not in any way exposed.


Because children are especially
liable to take and spread these dis.
eases, and because schools afford a
free opportunity for this, every child |
from any family in which a case Of
either of these diseases has occurred |
should be excluded from school and |
be readmitted not sooner than one
month from the beginning Of the |
disease, except upon the certificate |
of some competent physician that il
will be safe.


All the above precautions concern |
the dangers of contagion. But the
continued prevalence of these dis
eases in any community is probable
evidence Of insanitary surroundings |
and of sources of sickness, partially |
or wholly preventable. The most
exemplary housewife, whose home
is the very model Of neatness and
order, may have all her efforts dc
feated in a sanitary sense by defec-
tive sink-trap or a leaky drain pipe,
or an eyerhowing cess pool, or an
cellar, or even by a heap
Of decaying garbage in her neigh,
boris yard.


Therefore, look well TO the sur
roundings. Abolish filth, remove
lampness and all sources of foul
air, especially from living and sleep
ing rooms. Disinfect thoroughly
ali suspected places in yards and
neglected corners.


IN. fe.Iio.rs,,c, 1fafr focfapf u bcfh !