THE DANGER OF INFECTION

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1728, 30 December 1887, Page 2

THE DANGER OF INFECTION

A medical man, writing to an American paper, says :—

A 8 a stranger m your city one is struok with the extensive uso of the telephone — even to the extent of creating a new word, ' phoning ' or * phone,' to express the aot of using the instrument as a meanß of intercommunication.

But m the contaot of the breath with tbe diaphragm m speaking, a deposit of moisture containing animal matter lodges upon the parts, which is largely increased by tho use of the concentrator or cup used by many, and as the telephone is often Bituated m a dark place, where no sun or air can come m contact with it, to retard, tho growth of germs m this constantly increasing deposit ; and the decomposition of this animal matter produces a foetid odor, which is sickeninsdy disagreeable to eensltive persons using the instrument and may be the medium'of circulating theinfeotion of certain diseases communicable through the breath of others, where an instrument is promiscnonßly used and no attention is paid to cleansing it with pure alcohol or a disinfecting solution containing permanganate of soda, carbolic acid, vinegar or tho like. Neglect m this matter is only second to neglect of cleansing table ware after übo by one before allowing it to be used by another. The ' British Medical Journal ' points out the danger m large cities of infection arising from the promiscuous uso of the mouthpiece of a public telephone by numbers of persons, and recommends that the mouthpiece be disinfected evory time it is used to prevent accidents.

A solution of alcoholic spirits m water, carbolic acid (1 to 300), permanganate of soda or r iuegar should be kept always at hand and the mouthp : ece cleansed after each v ing.

A word to the wise ehould be sufficient