An Account of the Sore Throat Attended With Ulcers: A Disease Which Hath of Late Years Appeared in This City, and in Several Parts of the NationFothergill, John
History
An Account of the Sore Throat Attended With Ulcers: A Disease Which Hath of Late Years Appeared in This City, and in Several Parts of the Nation
Fothergill, John
Diphtheria
It is probable, that Part of the same acrid Matter passes with the
Nourishment into the Stomach; especially in Children; and it is perhaps
owing to this Cause in part, that they suffer much more from this
Distemper than Adults; this corrosive Fluid without Doubt producing the
same Effects on the Stomach and Bowels, as it does when applied to the
much less sensible Skin of the Face; _i. e._ it excoriates the Parts it
touches; which in fact seems to be the Case: For, if they get over the
Disease, a Purging sometimes succeeds it, attended with the Symptoms of
Ulcerations in the Bowels, and after enduring great Pain and Misery,
perhaps some Weeks, they at length die emaciated: And I have been
inform'd, that some Children have had the Parts about the _Anus_ also
excoriated; the _Sanies_ retaining its Virulency thro' the whole Tract
of the Intestines.
The Sick sometimes bleed at the Nose towards the Beginning of the
Disease; and the _Menses_ very often appear in those of the Female Sex,
who are of Age to have them, soon after they are seized, notwithstanding
the regular Period is at a considerable Distance: If they are taken ill
about the usual Season, the Discharge is commonly large and expensive.
Some young Persons, who never had the least Appearance of them, have had
this Evacuation during their Illness.
In strong and full Habits, these Evacuations are seldom attended with
much Benefit, or manifest ill Effects, unless they are very copious; for
in this Case they occasion great Faintness, and an Increase of the other
Symptoms, in proportion to the Excess. In tender weak Subjects, they are
often prejudicial.
It has happen'd in this Disease, that Hæmorrhages from the Nose and
Mouth have suddenly carried off the Patient. I have heard of the like
Accident from Bleeding at the Ear: But these fatal Discharges most
commonly happen after the Patient has been ill several Days; and it
seems more probable, that they proceed from the Separation of some
Slough from the Branch of an Artery, rather than from a Fulness of the
Vessels, or an Effort of Nature to relieve herself by a salutary Crisis.
Bleeding in this Disease has in general been observed to be prejudicial:
Some indeed admit of it without any sensible Inconvenience; but a
Repetition of it, even where the Disease is mild and favourable, seldom
fails to aggravate the Symptoms; and in some Cases it appears to have
occasion'd very dangerous Consequences. The Heat, Restlessness, and
Delirium, which this Evacuation commonly prevents or mitigates in other
Cases, in this are increased by it; nor does the Swelling of the
Tonsils, _Fauces_, &c. seem to receive the least Benefit from it: On the
contrary, tho' the Fullness of these Parts decreases, yet the Sloughs
thicken, the external Tumor grows large, and the Spitting commonly
diminishes.
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