HEALTH NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVIII, Issue 226, 22 August 1928, Page 8

HEALTH NOTES

INFECTIOUS DISEASE.

PRVENTIVE MEASURES.

(Contributed by Department of Health.)

Human beings contract infectious diseases directly or indirectly from other human beings, or from animals, as, for instance, in the case of hydatids. From a sanitary point of view, therefore, every individual in a community represents a potential source of infection to others. Were we confronted, states an authority, only by tho necessity of guarding against infections originating in recognised cases, the problem would resolve inself simply into one of prompt diagnosis and isolation. As it is, however, transmission by clinically recognisable cases is growing less and loss important as methods of diagnosis and pub- ' lie health supervision grow in efficiency, and in an increasing proportion of instances tho ultimate origin of such disease must be sought in the mild unrecognised ease and the “carrier.”

CARRIERS,

Concerning “carriers,” it is now a fact well known to all medical men that in typhoid and the paratvnhoid fevers, cholera, dysentery, meningitis, diphtheria, pneumonia, and probably in poliomyelitis, scarlot fever, and a number of other diseases, there is constantly present in all communities a definite percentage of individuals who are themselves for the time being immune but who harbour and constantly distribute dangerous bacteria. _ . ~ Protection against these “carriers is only possible by organising community life that the routine contact o f individuals with infectious materials may bo reduced to tho smallest possible extent, and by so influencing tho habits, nutrition, occupation, etc., of the community, that the average resistance of the population may be maintained at 'the highest possible level, adding to tins widespread and special methods of protection against disease. Such a programme involves, in addition to the more technical sanitary organisation, a wider popular knowledge of health matters. widespread poverty inevitably carries in its train, to some degree, uncleanliness, crowding, and under-nutrition. _ Inadequate regulation of tho conditions under which men and women work and amuse themselves will lead to reduced group resistance, and will open innumerable avenues of transmission. Lack of education in the simple hygiene of everyday life leads abovo all else, to carelessness of the rights of others in regard to infection.

DUTY OF CITIZENS,

It is the duty of all to minimise risk to others. If you are suffering from an infectious disease, however mild in character, take all possible precautions to prevent its spread. Honourable citizens who would hesitate to try a new rifle in a crowded thoroughfare, have no compunction about coughing and sneezing in each other’s fares or sending their children to school with whooping cough or heavy colds. Attention to such simple matters of personal hygiene, keeping the mouth and teeth in a healthy condition, washing the hands when soiled, especially preparntorv to handling food, etc., is not only a duty to one s self, but an obligation to ono’s associates.

RULES TO FOLLOW.

With tho publicity given throughout these articles as to the means of preventing the spread of infectious diseases by early medical treatment, strict isolation of patients and careful nursing, there is little execuse for tho undeniable ignorance that so often exists about the simplest rules of infection. To recapitulate: —All infectious disease manifests itself usually by a feeling of illness accompanied by a rise in tho body’s tem.peraturo. Should Wiese sympt)o|mß occur, the patient should go to bed, keep warm and seek medical treatment. As the early stages of an attack are most infective, but infection may persist throughout the illness, the isolation of the patient should be stiictlv maintained. Relapses and complications are much less likely to occur if the patient goes to bed at once and remains there until all fever has gone, or as his medical adviser directs; much harm can bo done by getting about too early, and there, is extreme clanger of spreading infection to other members of the household. Tho patient should be kept in a room apart from the rest of tho family. All dishes, handkerchiefs, towels, and washable bedding used by the patient should be boiled before washing. Catch discharges from tho nose and throat of the patient upon pieces of cloth which can be burned or boiled. Tho risk of conveyance of infection by the fingers must be constantly remembered, and the hands should be washed at once after contact with the patient or with the mucus from tho nose or throat.- The liability of immediate attendants to infection may be materially diminished by avoiding inhalation of the patient’s breath and particularly when he is coughing, sneezing, or talking. During the prevalence of an infectious disease in tho community., those who are able to do so will diminish their chances of contracting the disease bv keeping away from all places of public resort and all crowded conveyances.