Dysentery Danger Calls for Caution

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 645, 23 April 1929, Page 1

Dysentery Danger Calls for Caution

RISK OF EPIDEMIC STEADY DECLINE EXPECTED Because dysentery is generally a warm-weather disease, and is checked by the coming of winter, doctors of the Health Department who are now facing the problem in Auckland consider the danger of a city epidemic, or the possibility of the present trouble spreading, to be remote. Nevertheless, they issue a warning to the public that all possible precautions should be taken. “As far as can be ascertained from the notifications, Auckland City is about clear, for no cases have been reported since the beginning of the month,” Dr. T. J. Hughes, medical officer of health, told The Sun this morning. “The danger to the city to-day is less than it has been in the past two months, especially now that the cold weather has come along. “There have been only about 20 cases notified from the city, all others being outside, and mostly among the Maoris, because of their mode of living. “At the same time, I am satisfied that there have been many cases not seen by medical men, and many even unrecognised because of their mildness. For that reason, and because of the present epidemic among the Maoris, precautions should be taken.” CLEANLINESS ESSENTIAL The precautionary steps advised by Dr. Hughes may be summarised in a slogan, “Absolute cleanliness.” The hands should be washed before food is touched, and before every meal. Care should be exercised to keep flies and dust from all foodstuffs, and special care should be taken to see that the household sanitary conveniences are kept thoroughly clean. Milk should be boiled. While dysentery is about, raw vegetables and fruit should not be eaten. In dealing with the disease, the department is faced with the difficulty of locating cases, however mild, and carriers. The symptoms consist of pains in the abdomen, and diarrhoea. Indiscretions of diet should be avoided, as any bowel irritation renders a person more liable to an attack. In the South Auckland area, and particularly among the Maoris, the epidemic is of serious dimensions, but the departmental officers anticipate that it will decline with the advance of winter. • FRESH CASES There has been no slackening since the beginning of April, 97 cases having been reported in that time. There have been 23 deaths. Yesterday 36 cases .and nine deaths were notified, but of the 36, a number .were not fresh cases, To-day three fresh cases were notified from Mokai, and the department received advice of cases in the Waikato. The department’s campaign among the Maoris is being advanced by Dr. B. P. Ellison, Director of Maori Hygiene, who has arrived from Well ington. Assisting him is Dr. R.’ A. Shore. An extra nurse has been dispatched to South Auckland, and tomorrow another nurse and an inspector will be transferred temporarily to reinforce the department’s workers. “A new infection among natives is always serious,” said Dr. Shore this morning. “If a mild form of the epidemic has been prevalent in the province, the possibilities of an outbreak next summer are remote, for an attack of dysentery renders the patient immune from further attacks of the same strain of bacillus. “The trouble is that we do not know if the strain is the same as that discovered in past epidemics. We are now endeavouring to locate the source and nature of the infection.” _ __ _