OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3276, 27 December 1916, Page 56

OUR BABIES.

Bi HroEiA.

Published under The auspices ol the Royal New Zealand Society tor the Health ol Women and Children. "'lt Is wiser to put up a fenoe at the top of a precipice than to maintain nu Hnabulancp at the bottom."

SUMMER DIARRHOEA. Last week, when dealing with this subject, wo pointed out that Summer Diarrhoea rarely attacks babies unless they have been a little " out of sorts," or actually failing in health beforehand. We now enumerate tome of the dangers to be avoided and the precautions to be taken. KEEP BABY GERM-PROOF. When will mothers and nurses realise that a child who has apparently thriven for months, in spite of wrong treatment, may suddenly fall a victim to some malady against which his system would have been quite proof had he been kept in a state of perfect health and fitness, by paying duo attention to all the simple laws of life and primary needs of infancy? A baby may hold out against almost any form of inattention or carelessness clur r m,g spring, and yet succumb to the first drink of tainted milk given to him on a warm summer's day. The effect of such food on a perfectly healthy baby might be merely to bring on passing colic, or to cause one or more green motions; but if the system had been insidiously undermined previously (though there might have been nothing apparently wrong with the baby) the effect of a single feeding with risky food might be an attack of acute diarrhoea, ending fatally, simply because the child had not acquired enough stamina to put up a good fight. If a baby is fed artificially, and there is no means of keeping prepared milk below 60deg Fahr., the mother should heat up to 155 deg any residue left over at the end of 12 hours after preparation, and then cool it down rapidly as directed on page 28 "Feeding and Care of Baby," and keep it cool. If there is no thermometer in the house tho milk may be mildly scalded as follows : How to Scald Milk. Place tho jug of milk in a saucepan of hot water, heat until the water boils, and keep boiling for 10 minutes. Then cool rapidly in running water, etc.. keeping covered as directed in the Society's book. EPIDEMIC DIARRHOEA. Under tho above heading Dr Ralph Vincent, senior physician to the Infants' Hospital, Westminster, makes tho following remarks on the disease more commonly known as "summer diarrhoea of infants": This disease is_ peculiarly liable to appear at certain times of the year, and is practically absent in other portions of the year. Tho conditions in which the disease arises occur during hot weather, and especially during a hot summer. The characteristic of the disease in regard to the dato of its appearance is that it appears mostly towards tho latter end of summer, when tho heat has continued for somo considerable time. (Memo, by " Hygeia": The worst months in New Zealand are January, February, and March.)

THE MOST FATAL DISEASE. As a mortal disease affecting babies, epidemic diarrhoea is the most serious cf all. The number of deaths depends on the temperature. If it is a cool summer the number of deaths is comparatively low: if it is a hot summer the number of deaths is very high indeed. (Naturally the hotter the summer the more the. germs grow and flourish in the milk.) The year 1904 afforded a sad illustration in England. The summer of that year was very hot and in many towns throughout tbo country nearly one-half the babies under 12 months old died in the three months July, August, and September. These infants died because they were poisoned. (Poisoned, as Dr Vincent proceeds 1o show, mainly by the microbes contained in tainted milk, acting on babies who had not been kept in such a state of first-rate health and condition ns to enable them to resist the attacks of germs.—" Hvijeia.")

Dr Vincent emphasises the fact that the name "Epidemic Diarrhoea" is liable to be somewhat misleading, because, although all epidemic diseases tend to attack tho bodily "unfit" rather than the -'fit." yet people who are quite well may fall victims. HOW TO PREVENT DTARRIKEA. In the case of so-called epidemic diarrhoea of mfauts, however, the disease is strictlv avoidable. It can bo avoided by taking the following very simple precaution's—namely : 1. By alwais supplying "What Every Baby Neds, Whether Well or III" (see the Society's book, pages 1 and 2). Don't invito the microbes to establish themselves in the interior of the baby r v keeping- the soil ready prepared for their growth. A stitch in time saves nine. Don't be careless about the baby's health merely because the season happens to be good and he appears to be flourishing and seemingly in no need of special attention. Don't omit anything that he is rightly entitled to have and that tends to keep him always at the highest pitch of health and fitness. 2. By not feeding him with gehmladen, poisoned milk or any other ii! proper food.