SCARLET FEVER. Synonyms.—Scarlatina; Scarlet Rash. Definition ...

opposite to those above mentioned. Bad family history, gradual and
progressive debility, feeble digestion and assimilation, hemorrhage
repeated at intervals, cough more aggravated at night and early in the
morning, and rapid emaciation,—these are conditions which would be
recognized as unfavorable and almost necessarily fatal, especially where
the environments are bad.
Treatment.—Prophylaxis.—If the generally accepted theory is true,
that the bacillus is responsible for the disease, then all will agree that
the destruction of the micro-organisms is one of the most important steps
in preventing, not only the further spread of the disease, but also in
limiting its ravages where it already has a foothold, thereby preventing
reinfection.
It has been estimated that a patient suffering from pulmonary
tuberculosis will expectorate, during the twenty-four hours, about seven
billion of the bacilli; this from a patient who is still able to walk about
and mingle with his fellow-men. The disgusting habit of expectorating
on the floors of rooms, street-cars, and public buildings and sidewalks,
should be discouraged by every means possible. The danger from this
source should be taught in every school, and the children be impressed
with the fact that herein lies one of the greatest menaces to the human
family; for this is the one disease that is the scourge of humanity.
Patients confined to the house should be provided with spit-cups that
can be easily cleaned or burned. If walking about, Knopf's pocket
sputum-flask, made of aluminum, is very desirable. The sputum, when
not burned, may be treated with a five per cent solution of carbolic acid,
which successfully destroys the germs in thirty seconds. All utensils for
sputum and secretions should be thoroughly boiled or cleansed with this
acid solution.
Spitting in the handkerchief should also be discouraged, unless they are
Japanese paper handkerchiefs and are immediately burned. Patients
should also be instructed not to swallow any of the sputum, and thus
avoid reinfection. Consumptives and all delicately inclined should avoid
smoking, as there is danger in the virus coming from the consumptive
cigar-maker, whose saliva is used to point the cigar. Dr. J. C. Spencer, of
San Francisco, has demonstrated the presence of bacilli in various
specimens of cigars, and though the nicotine may kill the germs it has
also been proven that the dead bacilli contain a specific poison which is
still capable of doing harm to the tissues.
The Eclectic Practice of Medicine - PART I - Infectious Diseases - Page 211