HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 67, 30 December 1946, Page 3

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

DAYLIGHT KILLS GERMS (By the Department of Health) Many of the diseases of an infectious nature are spread by droplets from the mouths and throats of sufferers. Some of the germs die soon after falling to the ground and drying. But there are big families of germs that resist drying. For example, that big family of germs that cause septic conditions—staphylococci and streptococci. Because of this capacity many germs survive drying for a long time. Dust and dirt are enemies to health. A worker sweeping out a cubicle vacated three days earlier by a patient with puerperal fever herself developed a septic throat with exactly the same type of germ as had caused the patient’s fever. The dust had dried haemolytic streptococci germs in it. They caused the sore throat.

This fact has become recognised in hospital practice—that infection can be dust borne. Counter measures that have been tried are the oiling of floors and bed linen and blankets. Also the use of untraviolet rays inwards and' in theatres—very effective against moist germs, not so good aaginst dry ones. Direct daylight, apart from sunlight, kills germs whether moist or dry in dust. It used to be thought that when the daylight passed through a window ordinary glass stopped the untraviolet rays and robbed light of its own killing power. Recent work has shown that diffused daylight does kill germs. For example, some natural pus placed in glass covered dishes and exposed to daylight through a window glass was made sterile in 60 to 19 days. Some controls in a dark cupboard yielded living germs up to 110 days. The moral—cleanliness pays in the fight against disease. Dust and dirt carry germs. Keep them out of your homes as much as possible. Because we cannot keep absolutely dustless homes and public places remember our ally, daylight. Keep the blinds up and let the light in as much as possible for it will kill germs slowly but surely. And let us have big windows in our homes and public buildings. We cannot get sunshine everywhere; daylight we can, and should, encourage everywhere as much as possible in the war against germs.