CARRIERS OF MICROBES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7869, 3 August 1911, Page 5

CARRIERS OF MICROBES

Although pure water is tho most im* portant clement in securing immunity from typhoid fever, it .is by no means tho only one. Glasgow nas an ideal water supply, but Its ! death-rate from fever la twice as great as that of London. Drains age, sewerage, pure milk supply, and per* Bonal cleanliness arc all important, and the duties of a municipality are not completed when ■ settling .reservoirs and filters have been installed. Whenever infection exists in a town, it may spread, and every avenue needs to be watched, and, if- possible, closed. The necessity of vigilanoo has been emphasised the laet few years by the discovery of “typhoid carriers.” It has now been demonstrated that certain persons have the power of becoming the .permanent hosts of the bacillus, and of affording it a hospitality that never grows* cold. Ordinarily when the human organism becomes infected with typhoid it is a fight to a finish—either the one or the other dies. But in occasional instance* the struggle ends in a truce or an allianceTho bacillus, lives and thrives in its host, but does him no further harm after thefever has spent itself. It is not that tho bacillus has lost its power for evil, but that the man has attained immunity. While himself enjoying fair health, all his discharges are capable of infecting others, and this condition may persist for years. When such a person is engaged in the preparation or distribution of food or drink, ho is a continual menace to the community, and ought to be obliged not only to seek a leas dangerous occupation, but also to adopt every precaution which science can suggest. Unfortunately, wo are not yet able to recognise "carriers,'' except by tests which cannot bo carried out on a large scale. Possibly, in tho future, there may be added to our existing .system of notification the necessity of obtaining a certificate of health before tho Invalid can again take his place in the world. Wc are scarcely ready for that at present, and certainly they are not in America-, where the pressing necessity is to secure a pure supply of water to all towns, first, by treating the sewage before it is discharged into the rivers, and* -second, by adopting some system of flltnu tion that removes pathogenic germs from the water supply. Tho climate in a large part of the States interferes with sand filtration .in winter, but the . resources of science do not end at tho sand filter.— "Engineering.”