Infectious Diseases

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 5, 25 May 1914, Page 4

Infectious Diseases

TIfEHJ SPREAD AND PREVENTION.

At yesterday's mooting of the New Plymouth Brotherhood Dr. 0. Home de. Uvcred an interesting addrens on "Infectious Diseases: Their Spread Hnd Prevention."

The subjeefc wis, he remarked, suggested by tie recent occurrence in the community of two serious forma of infections disease—typhoid fever and the so-called infantile paralysis. The importance of the subject, he continued, eould not tbe gainsaid, for it af[(t'ted more than any other factor the welfare and Hie lives of civilised humanity. Almost all deaths before the end of the allotted s]>an of years vivre'due to preventible diseases. • Taking the eaae of Australia, the doctor mentioned that in 1910, 11/>OO children under five years of age died, mostly of communicable diseases, and, in a country which badly wanted population, this was a very Berious condition—especially at a time when, as the doctor reminded his hearers, tfhere were no longer the wide, sweeping epidemics that used to devastate continents —such as plague, cholera and smallpox—so extensive and so sudden that they wcro put down, in .the days of man's ignorance, as calamitous visitations of the Almighty. We had learned gradually to come down from tho infinitely great to the infinitely little. The afflictions we once ascribed to universal providence wo now knew were due to the Tory smallest of living things on cartib>-inicrobes, as they are called, or germs or bacteria. Indeed, some were so small as to be quite invisible to the highest power of the modern microscope. Their presence wasknown simply by their ability to produce disease. Microbes swarmed in countless billions everywhere on earth where there was warmth and moisture enough for any sort of growth. It was explained that they were quite necessary for the growth of all plants, and therefore for all animal life as well. Fortunately only a few special kinds weTe capable of producing disease. All communicable diseases were,due to one or other of these kinds, and most human infectious disorders affected only human beings. Thus human beings might be regarded as the source of most of their ;'wn diseases. A few, such a tuberculosis, anthrax, glanders, plague and hydrophobia, existed in the lower animals us well. CABBIAGK OF INFECTIOUS DISORDERS. The majority were air-borne. A considerable number were conveyed by water, milk and food. Some required actual personal contact for tiheir spread, and an increasing number were being Teeogn wed as being carried by insects. The chief means of entrance into the body were by the mouth and nose. AH communicable disorders not inoculated by invect bites nr by actual personal con*at, were breathed in or swallowed. , The most frequent diseases spread by direct personal contact were, of course, ■ the venereal diseases—gonorrhoea, and 1 syphilis. After introduction into the body germs continued to grow cither in the blood and tissuty generally, sudi as ! measles, scarlatina, chieken-pox. etc.; ' or in special localised parts, such n9 diphtheria in the throat. TOXIA'S AND ANTI-TOXINS.

An a general result of their growth pomona (toxins) were produced in increasing quantity in the body, ami these stimulated the body to produce in its fluids nn antidote (anti-toxin). Tf the body failed to respond the patient died; otherwise the gradually increasing timount of anti-toxin produced, neutralised the bacterial poisons, and recovery ensued.

Tliis effect on Uie body lasted throughout lifo as a rule, conferring immunity from a second attack of the same disease, tout in some diseases, such as intluonza and feverish colds, the immunity, though probably there, was very transient. ANTT-Vl VJSI-CTIOXISTS. The principles mid rcantts of bacterial action eonld only be satisfactorily studied when the disease wws one that could he inoculated, into one or other of the lower animals. Unfortunately for humanity, this form of research'tad been —in Great Britain—badly hampered by a group of people themselves j "anti-vivisectionists"—of honest intention to begin with, but very badly misguided. Their chief argument was that the study of remedies applied to the lower animals was useless, they being ■ quite different from human beings, but the study was not of remedies so much as of biological principles and knowledge of disease Xothing. however, was so valuable as an actual example, and the doctor proceeded to explain how diHithcria was no longer the virulently fatal disease it used to be, simply because by successivelv increasing dosf.« of diphtheria germs 'inoculated into healthy horses, the blood of these animc.U was brought to such a state that it little of the serum drawn off from time to time (without danger to the horse) and bottled for export! kept ■'or years its property as a direct antidote to the disease in any human being: in fact, in a case seen early enough, no other treatment was requir.-d. MKANX' op EXIT. iiifwd ..tlnn-pn.plo, »f Mlr «.. ud to lie eaa-rn,l is , lnl ()1 t | u . ll( „| v .. Jli(lf . !y by the secretion -- moiitn. nose, u.ml Uivcat Igenilfcil parages in the ease of venereal diseases), and hv the excretions urme and hrnvd di.-ilia.v.jes; from these 1v» bedding, clot him;. , m \ | !,!„,„ handled l).v the patient. Flake-, of skin ini-M ..oiuctimes cany infection. TUB SOU,.

Phe germ*, or seeds 0 f divnse.. (~,[ ben ei;w:de.rH. »„. sred couM »ot ;-' : !<i\v vntiihmt a suiUiblc soil or sir-- ■ '.l-C I.'t WOIIU HOW be ohviotls to fVW T. '••ne. how thoroughly important it wi? ■'. keep the entnimic" porti'ils—tho moutii, Uroat, .-uid nose always in a. health v ■iliiti': (» keep (hem fri'o of any imneeessii ry secretions; on. wiliiieli i»e.rjns mio-hf, ,'J'W; tl". keep Iho nostrils each specially <m«ii t,»r live nir jmssagts; to keep the ••'■i-tili in .L'ooil vrdei' for the saki- of the mowhli. tlivont ami tonsils as well as the stomach. Diseased tonsils were the mollis .i.f nili-jiiot, of sitfli tnvvnblos as ■i" !('u::mlM' lever anil 1 tuberculosis, which oiten remained latent for year* aft*r the !.rst mleriion. A healthy mouth and nose cimld ~l'lci, deal successfully with :i Rfi"ii Uiteciinn cf anv sort. mid previ nt it froiiif; further.

Protective- inoculation, inc'iulinp- vm .. ciuutiion. was nicntioiiod us renderingIhe limnaii hody unsuitable for fiWrm /•rnwth. b

There mi no belief more thoroughly e-itsililislu '. anions niedk'iil men tbnii Mie IHiei' in the efficacy 0 f vaccin.ition small pox. I'ItKV'KXTJOV. Means, uf prevention, were tDicii toue.ii■'l upon, tilli■ chief ones being isolation of the patient. ,! is infection of all seeretioßi nitil excretions and' articles possibly WowtanAinated by contact, ' * ipsa air swjpfisrr.

\>orw 4 ikeaau,, for t.V. :!•>*»« of thes* could not live U.' ; i» «jiu-:..:i> tin- hnma» body lumlcss uovi'Vi a and ■ in darkness. Fresh air, day ami night, was nwi-stary far imvaluls U> p;t will, uud for healthy poojfo Ito miiam ■hixilUiv. It was par-i tioiiUurly nae(Bijiin X»r cliidren in school*' !whare the vaniiahUian was itjwilyt ahWokingly inadequate. JNtABCTO AS CAIUIfIiKS.

a * Jlad r <*°«niti|on for rn.to.ir and «,,,„„„„. Tl ,. fl fc tauly f mjUKnt!v r( ,, ponsib!( f f " c t ', W* f,vJr, and distril>utor of that mo.* wag attaetu! by fllfch «nd human exemu*, ftnd ?,?,^ 80 2** mai 'y dru«-n itaolf i a , jug w a dfal, of milk, in vrfiirf. tibe <l* iiw *eccnt outbreak of tvphoid at tl «■ *«**£* •ppwral ;» be a t™ic«l eaJfctll Ufanlik paralyse i„ which the nose and mouth secretions wore infee °ea«e. Intense fly kid ft. ™Z ; n »WMb manure innallj,. n nJ the *wo W *hree weeks'.to develop. Aft* male Jrouas fly cw.ld h r f o „ r >to siv **<* " tont m «« wk ■natfeU. The flies which lived through tho mautr-mn those whieh carried on tho stasktor next Mumnw. Therefore the' «»« time to kill flies vm% i„ th« winter, •when tkwe were so fw of them, end provemt B8 many as possiWe of the sumnrer ttrop. ATI stable manure should' hj,. disinfected ly aoakintr with one of the carbolic " wwpoTindls and all vecretablu refuse burnt or BuraA TS, C Muc-bottle, thoue-h more ? Bgr^'IVO an<l unslv( >'> r y. was not nearly sin* a. disease, eairriv as the house fly. PERSONAL CONTACT, INCLUDING' KISSING. Porsorw! etmtnot was often responsible for tiho direct conveyance of diseiisu from one pennon to anioitjiw, and the d>ytor oouja'dured indiscriminate kissing*!™!/ 1 peouuUy amongst children) ns a most HP necessary onil'ireprelu-iwible praetice. Uy thib means it was certain that the germ'it i of tonsDftn and of tooth decay wevt often mmeti from person to person, alsio (ftphiheria and tuberculosis. The I danger torf kissing .bseame more pronouaced now float it was definitely known that many people were unconscious carI "era of dkeswe, that is. hnd virulent, j germs of infective disease in their noaes and mouihs without the.-* producing an? \ aympfjoniß. Infcctioim colds oJten left a i. lingering pofwibidity of contagion for weeks alter return to lirtlth..

Uachua hanck often spread disease—failure to <fi«infect lmndu after handling a typtaofid patient or his bedding. Eyelid inflammations were often curried in this iray, owing to the tendency to nib the irrittited eye. TIROPICAL DISORDERS^

Dr. Home then referred to some tropical dSsensew, in the propagation of ■which biting ißffloctu were mainly coworned—plague, transferred) from diseased' ra'ts by their limn to' human beings; Bleeping Kidcii(w», ear.ried by the tsetse, fly; and malaria and yell/d\v fever each by its o\vn spem! kind of mosquito. PRJSVRNTK>N DBTTER THAN CURE. ' Tit conclusion. Dr. Ilonw remarked:

"AeiffnuH instance of results in dealing with the insect diisla-ibutorg 'of disease 'is shown in tfie nuse of the 'ijreat tropie.il wonrgc. malaria. Tlii.-i is a mosquito Ueirae di«p;ine. fly patient rqu£)ning nn I research, ifihc part played by 'the nmsqnito was unfolded. Up till' then th«

i-.ir hiul Ixwii suspected, especially nightair. 'Miliaria' simply means 'bad air, and the mn.jo>rity «.' people still hare the qufte unjustifiable that nifiht nir shtauM not bo admitted into their bedrooms.

In the duya of ignorance, medical mca orul<t only tinker nt the wrong 1 end of the disease by giving quinine. NW tna mwlicaJ profoswioii are everywhere stopping the beginning of (the disease, by stopping iho young life of the mruquito, ami by oft' the •■ mosquito lays it-* egg* in ?-*tajsH)t waiter. The young stage of it mwCgfim in wahej, hut it must also breathe air, floating nt the surface for that purpose By <Jrainin!? away all stagnant water - where powvblc, and coating with kerosene five anrfaee of all swamps that cannot !bo <t>mine<f, inahuii in elirniuated. Think of the Panama Guwl, of the bipr JH"eiK*, enfterprise, of the thousands of capable and arttive man who diiail, of th» inilhVmw of money spent on machinery whirih misted and rfctted,' of the nwsuis of livelihood of thousands of families, of ' the whole big enterprise ifcw'f, wrecked! by miosquitosJ Look at the difference now, with the canal zone a tropical . health resort, where malaria is almos* unknown.

"Ta.ke the ease wf yellow fever—a» fivem more <teadlv and rapid: scourge than 'imiljvria, _ vvhen. mankind knew nothing of its origin audi means of spreads ing, its wholesale. <le■■ith-dMliug terriflert countries and paralysed their oemmeTce by rigwoufiflTOia-ar.tine. Havana was nlways unrftvr its scourge; so was! Rio do » Janeiro. In fact, these two townsi were the hem! centres from which it was distribute!. T was at I!io de Janeiro myself in WBl>. a cramped; and filthy town, and I saw pem>!e <lving in the street of yellow fever. Bi\- Norwegian sailors <lied of it fine afternoon on a vessel within 200 yards of kite one I was a passenger in. TIIKT.R UVKS VOn THE CAUSE. After the. Spanish-American war certain Divdwa! men went to Cubi to investipite the disease. They worked on the tlneory tfltsrt it was inoculated bv the/* bite -t4 a. special kind of mosquito. T>n*mP lived in rraiw where pcionle (had died "f ip' live (KeeiifK. Abo the kind of food,''lf slept in the same clothes, without any -,'■ rtiMnfeitfrr*. Screened from roosomtos ■>' wey dU not iovelop the disease. The* ' ■they Mirran«|ed for themselves to be bitten by imwniitoß that had been purposely fed vn people ill with wllow fever. They sickened with it, kept'per.«nsl note* of the developing disease until too ill to write. The ma.icffity of them died nf it, conntttig tlieir lives a* nothing against the proof tltot yellow fever is not directly eonliufiltiirm from person to person, bu* 19 eyerywheire and always carrioiL nml inoculated by a special kind of biting mosquito. Can von imagine auv higher eouirngn than Win? On liafctle-field's of another Wind WT warfare, where fcV .-ndden and wide spr-end of deatih is the immediate <»hject, m<en sometime.? win the Victoria Orou». Wlmb is if. in eomiwrison? Merely a sporting irisk, mentioned in diesiviteihes, ind cabled to all the newspapers. Ton don't hear of these inediciil men unless vou aTc sneeiallv told. ' Yet think of the hundreds of thotiWind.l oHivoH sived by theiir fsanrifiee; nf the whole shipping trade of big eiticf no lomrer held up 1m- uselesm quarantine; of large of fihe.riohest and bes-t lands of the troves, Tiitherto the mosl, deadly, now '•■>;; ib)i> (»(„• biniiati industry. T saw Ri<> *to Janeiro acain i"t> 100S a benmtifal. clean, open, city, «1 bv comolef* nliweiiee of yellow fever (except enfitinl enjies brought bv rnaßtal into (.he harbor). lf«y»ni I* r • similar now—two large cities owe th» chief ilMMltributing teittiros of yelk>w fev«r f - ';< ■ now t;h'> h«ofbit«t rf tronion] jflmplv- bv dealing with Uie I*o other monument than a big, bwsy, JJM jie«iit,hv ditir 'ta 1% enough . for, -^>et^p