DIPHTHERIA DANGER

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 May 1930, Page 12

DIPHTHERIA DANGER

GREATEST IN WINTER.

(Contributed by the Department of Health.)

The advent of wintry conditions results usuallly in an increased incidence of certain infectious diseases dangerous to young life, and among these diphtheria takes a prominent place. Diphtheria is a wet, 'Cold weather disease. The influence of climate is confirmed by its rare incidence in the tropics. Dampness favours sore throats and colds, and may thus open a way for the invasion of the .bacillus or germ of diphtheria, which finds lodgment in the throat or nose of a susceptible person, rapidly multiplies, producing a greyish membrane and a poison or toxin which is absorbed in the blood. The germs enter the bddy through the mouth or nose. They may be transferred by kissing, or by receiving the mouth spray thrown out in coughing, sneezing and talking, or they may be carried to the lips by the use of a common drinking cup or other utensil or by fingers soiled by touching some object which an infected person has just touched with fingers soiled from his own lips or his infected handkerchief. It is very difficult for. a person who has these germs in his mouth to avoid contaminating his fingers with them.

' Sometimes those who work in dairies are “carriers” or have the disease. They may sneeze or cough into the milk pail, or the fingers of the milker may transfer the germs to the milk, and thus cause an epidemic of diphtheria. Hence the need for extreme care in handling milk, not only in its production and distribution, but also in the home.

If your child or other member of the family is sick with a. sore throat, call your doctor. If it is diphtheria, delay is dangerous. If it looks like diphtheria the doctor will administer antitoxin, take a culture from the patient’s throat or nose, and isolate the patient. Do not insist on waiting for a culture if the doctor advises anti-toxin. The delay may be fatal. There are few diseases where early treatment is so cfticacious and so fraught with hope as in diphtheria. There is no disease also in which early diagnosis and prompt treatment are more essential. We have at hand a powerful antidote in anti-toxin, one of the greatest triumphs of preventive medicine. Were it possible to apply this remedy in sufficient doses and early enough in all cases, mortality from diphtheria would almost vanish. As it is, the disease has been robbed of much of its former terror.

The germs are contained in the mucus (phlegm) of the nose and throat, and if this is destroyed at once the spread of infection will be checked. A large supply of clean, cheap cotton or linen cloth about a foot square should be provided for use in place of handkerchiefs. The discharges from the nose and throat should be wiped away with these cloths. The soiled cloths should be placed immediately in a paper bag and burned. In regard to other matters, the advice of the doctor should be strictly followed to prevent spread of infection to other members of the household. , The doctor and medical officer of health are required by law to perform certain duties for the protection of the community, and it is the duty of parents to comply with these requirements.

The period of exclusion from school of children suffering from diphtheria, as laid down by regulation, is for at least three weeks from the date of . the onset of the disease and until a certificate is furnished by the medical attendant that the period of isolation prescribed has been completed. The period of exclusion from school of children exposed to infectiojn (contacts) is (1) if patient treated at home, until disinfection of house has been carried out; (2) if patient removed to hospital, until seven days after disinfection of house subsequent to removal; (3) in either case, until a certificate of clearance has been received from an inspector of health.