MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10425, 24 April 1897, Page 1 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

INFECTION BY PETS.

"Cats have been suspected," says Modern Medicine, "of conveying the infection of diphtheria, and scarlet fever has been traced to them. To this may be added (Chicago Medical Record) the unwelcome news that a health officer has reported a case of emailpox brought about in the same way; that is, by a cat from an infected house carrying the disease to a neighbouring house. Another case is reported in La M£decine Moderne, 'of a seamstress who was in the habit of allowing her dog to lick her face. She was attacked one day with a severe inflammation of the right" eye. Oculists were consulted, bat their treatment was unsuccessful ; and owing to the fact that inflammation of the left eye was beginning, the right eye was cub out. In it was found a tapeworm, which the dog had probably picked up while licking some less pleasing object than its mistress' face. The danger of the transmission of parasites by dogs, which are well known to be indiscriminate in choosing objects for the exercise of their tongues, to the hands and faces of their masters, would seem to be a great one. lb is remarkable that accidents of the kind related happen as rarely as they do.'"

TREATMENT op RICKETS. One of the results of improper feeding and bad hygienic surroundings in infancy is the disease known as rickets. The disease is peculiarly one of early.childhood, and is manifested chiefly by the abnormal softness of all the bones of the body, followed by deformity and a backward development of the teeth. The disease) usually makes its first appearance with a diarrhoea, which is more or less persistent, and which shows that in some way the normal relation between the supply and the waste in the body has become disturbed. If the child is very young, it becomes restless and impatient of being handled, kicks off the bedclothes at night, perspiros freely, principally about the head, and soon shows signs of weakness and emaciation. In older children it may be difficult to recognise any serious disturbance until emaciation and deformity set in. The disease usually commences in the second, year, and when it is most active the child may positively, refuse to walk about. The long bones of the body, like those of the arms and legs, show the first signs of weakening, a weakening which gives rise to bow-legs, knock-knees, curvature of the spine, pelvic and hip deformities. The wrists, knees, and ankles enlarge, and the ribs bulge out like the breast of a chicken. Spaces between the bones of the head remain open. Often the face ceases to grow, while the head continues to do so, causing projecting brows. The liver and spleen are early affected, and their excessive enlargement may cause the abdomen to protrude, sometimes enormously. As has been stated, the cause of rickets is to be found in the perversion of nutrition; either from an improper or insufficient supply of food, or because, for other reasons, the activity of the system has been lowered. The percentage of recovery from rickets is largo, although the disease is sometimes fatal to young or weakly infants, and is nearly always the cause of permanent deformity. For limiting or arresting the disease, a correct diet is needful, with plenty of milk, cod liver oil, and preparations of iron and lime. There should.be plenty of fresh air, also cold sponging, dry rubbing, and a keeping of the child off its feet as far as possible. If there is much deformity, the early application of splint jackets and other mechanical contrivances is advisable. The subjects of rickets in childhood will not in later life attain normal height.