HINTS FOR MOTHERS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18894, 8 January 1927, Page 2

HINTS FOR MOTHERS.

Whether or not the stable fly .is the only carrier of infantile paralysis, it is certainly one, probably the principal carrier. In fair weather the stable fly. rarely enters the house; just before rainor a.storm it does enter the house, and the common saying that "just before a storm, the flies bite" is indicative of this. The.house fly does not "bite"; it is always the stable fly that bites, and it is its bite which is so often fatal to small children. .

Flies carry the infection not only to exposed milk,'but directly to the baby's mouth or to the nipple of its bottle. Insistence upon screens for the baby's rooms and for the.baby's bed is a part of the campaign against infant .mortality. Not only the 'flics, but dust, as is now well-known, is a carrier of enteritis germs, and through this the breast-fed child no less than the bottlefed is exposed' to tho dangers of this summer terror.

During the hot weather ice is absolutely necessary for the preservation, of milk, and all milk used for food should be cooled by ice as soon as it comes from the cow, and should bo kept next to the ice until ready to be used. A little money spent for ice may prevent illness and its much greater expense for medicine, nursing and medical attendance.' As water is often a carrier of disease it is safest to use only boiled wator for drinking or tho preparation of a baby's food.