Page 4 Advertisements Column 4

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 2, 8 April 1876, Page 4

PRECAUTIONS AGAINST THE SPREAD OE TYPHOID FE Y>.>-* Drawn up by AYjlliMi 0<;lk. M.A - , M.D, Ox.H,, F.R.G.P. Loud, Modi cal Officer of Health fertile combined districts of East Herts ; and circulated I>y the Sanitary Authorities. FIT VP 11 Oil), enteric, or gastric lever -2- are the names given to one and the same infections disease, (bis being a fever produced by excrcmcntal poisoning and almost invariably accompanied by diarrlnea. Of all excrenienial matter, the most poisonous is that which comes from persons themselves ill with the fever ; and it is principally by means of their stools that the disease spreads from one person to another. The poison may be taken in by breathing the eillnvia from these discharges, or from the privy, cesspool, or drains into which they have been emptied ; or by drinking water from wells into which they have soaked : or by swallowing particles that have adhered to clothes, bedding or

other objects, and thence been aeeidcntnlly transferred to articles of food or cooking utensils. Destruction of the fever poison in tin 1 stools, tlio inonieiil these leave the hody, by means of disinfectants, and (inasmucli as the action of disinfectants is not thoroughly certain) the safe disposal of the stools themselves, are the means by which we should try to prevent the disease from spreading - . Let till persons, therefore, who would keep themselves and their neighbours free from infection, observe strictly the following rules shnold the disease occur in their houses: J. Demovo at once from the sickroom ail carpets, curtains, and other objects likely to get fouled. 2. .Keep every one whose presence is not absolutely necessary out of tin.* sick room, and by means of open windows and open doors give the patient as much fresh air as possible. d. Put a piece of Avaterproof sheeting under the bed clothes, in the middle of the lr-d, so as to prevent the bed from getting soiled. •1. Put a teacnpfnl of the following disinfecting tim'd into a bed-pan or other vessel each time before the patient uses it ? ruhl . c oine Jiiorc after: Soda water, a gallon ; sulphate of iron (i.e., copperas), a pound; carbolic acid (the common impure kind), half a pint. In preparing this fluid the iron should first be dissolved by stirring in boiling water, and the carbolic acid I ebb'd wlem the iron is dissolved and

the fluid cool. ivememb t that carbolic acid is a poison; 'keep tlx; mixture therefore iu a safe place. The same fluid may In; used with great advantage to disinfect any accumulation ofkfilth, such as a dung-pit or cesspool.- As a general rule two quarts will snflicc to disinfect one cubic foot of foul mailer. hj. 'fake care that the discharges arc thoroughly mixed with the disinfecting fluid, and then cany them immediately into (in) yard.cn or field, and hmy them in a dec]) trmeb. previously dug' for the purpose, as Jar as possible from any well or other Avater supply. On no account let them he thrown on to a refuse heap, if tin' house la* in a town, and without a .garden, so that (he stools must of necessity he thrown (loavii the closet, add a double alloAvance of the disinfectant, and take can 1 that the emptying lie done without splashing the seat, and that the closet he Hushed until basin and pan are thoroughly clean. ti. Let bed and body linen, immediately it is taken off, be piit into a tub of water, to which carbolic acid has been added, iu the proportion of half a pint of acid to a bucket of water. Have the tub and fluid ready prepared and at hand before the linen is taken oil'. Lot the linen soak in this for two hours, and and then let it be actually boiled in washing. On no account must the linen be sent to a laundress without thorough previous disinfection, nor without informing her of its character, so that she may not wash it with the linen of other persons. 7. Let the nurse observe the most scrupulous care to iceep everything clean. Let her wear a dress of Avashing material, as this is more easily disinfected than wool. As her hands must almost unavoidably get soiled 1 in helping the patient, lot them wash them frequently in water to which some disiiifectiiiglJuid has been added, and let her take care that the water thus used, as well as ail other slops, he emptied carefully into the garden trench. 8. When the illness is over, the bed if soiled, should be burnt; or the tickov sacking cover may he disinfected by thorough boiling, and the flock or

straw stuffing burnt. Should there he a disinfecting oven available,the stuffing of hair matlrasses may be teased out and then disinfected by baking at a temperature of 250dcg. F. Otherwise lids also should be destroyed. 0. If fever be in your neighbourhood but not as yet in your bouse, take the foliowing precautions to keep it out: —Drink no water that is open to the least suspicion, or, if you can get no oilier, boil it before drinking. Use no closet or privy that is used by houses in which there is already fever. Give immediate notice to the Sanitary Inspector of any nuisance in your neigh bourhood, such as a stinking drain or gully, heaps of offensive refuse, and the like. Use all your iidiucnce influence to insist upon the proceeding precautions being strictly carried out by tour neighbours whose hous.-t mv t h eedy infected.