TETANUS MENACE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20275, 9 April 1934, Page 5

TETANUS MENACE.

Causes Concern to Medical Profession. INFECTION FACTOR. (Special to the “ Star.") SYDNEY, March 27. Another death from tetanus after a major operation has aroused public apprehension about this deadly disease again, and has more particularly revived the question whether the catgut used for sutures, after chemical treatment is really sterile. In this last case, Mrs Dalimore was admitted to North Shore Hospital when seriously ill, but she developed tetanus after the operation and died about a week later. The Coroner considered it proved that the catgut had been properly sterilised, and suggested that the tetanus germs had been present in the body before the operation. One of the doctors called in evidence at the inquest testified that many people carry tetanus germs about with them, and it is a matter of common knowledge that these germs are distributed widely throughout the soil. There have been two cases here recently which illustrate their prevalence. A boy jumping from a fence struck his foot on a bone, and though the wound was treated with disinfectant and soon healed, he died ten days later of tetanus. Another boy threw a bit of tile at his brother and it struck him on the foot. The wound healed, but tetanus intervened and in nine days the boy was dead. Sterilisation Questioned. Evidently the most careful and elaborate precautions had to be taken to exclude these insidious germs as far as possible from the human system. But the catgut used by surgeons may itself be infected, and this might explain the many deaths from tetanus I' after major operations. Last November Mrs Adelaide Moses was operated upon in a private suburban hospital

and she died of tetanus. The operating surgeon insisted that the catgut had been completely sterilised. But Dr Morgan, the chief State microbiologist, said that he had found tetanus germs on the spools of catgut used by Dr Watson in this operation; and he added that, in his opinion, the method of disinfecting usually followed—with biniodide of mercury—is not really efficacious. This question of the difficulty of sterilising catgut or making sure that it is free from germs was : raised over twelve months ago when : a serious outbreak of tetanus occurred ■ in the Woollongong district. Silk Uifod as Substitute. At the time Mr Weaver, as Minister ; of Health, promised to look into the [ matter and threatened to stop the im- [ portation of foreign catgut, which was l said to be less carefully and completely . sterilised than the British product. | The whole question is one that has [ naturally engaged medical attention i here, and, according to one of «>ur newspapers, a “ brilliant young surgeon ” who has done some post-gradu- : ate work in London is preparing a • paper, to be read before the 8.M.A., [ in which he claims that “it is beyond ! human power to make surgical catgut . reliably aseptic.” The reason is that the sheep-gut from which surgical . sutures are made is “ the natural habitat of the bacillus ” which the : sheep finds in the soil, and that it . cannot be eliminated without destroy- : ing the gut altogether. He therefore . advocates the use of silk as a sub- ; stitute. Of course, it is a matter fdr i experts, but one hopes that they will ; speedily make up their minds.