Nourishing foods and stimulants should be given frequently in small
quantities. The throat should be thoroughly and frequently washed out
with chinosol (1 in 1000) or other antiseptic lotion. If the difficulty
in breathing is marked, warm baths should be given at intervals of about
four hours. A steam kettle should be placed near the bed. The expulsion
of the membrane may often be aided and great relief afforded by the
administration of emetics, such as ipecacuanha, but these must be given
with care owing to the risk of heart failure.
_Complications._—Diphtheria may be followed by paralysis of the windpipe
with loss of voice, or paralysis of other parts of the body, therefore
great care should be taken not to allow convalescents to get up too soon,
no matter how well they may appear.
_Dysentery._
This disease, which is due to an inflammatory condition limited as a rule
to the lower or large bowel, may be the result of a variety of causes,
but there are two chief types which must be clearly distinguished: (1)
Amœbic dysentery, due to a protozoon or animal organism, (2) Bacillary
dysentery, caused by certain micro-organisms belonging to the vegetable
world.
Amœbic dysentery is much more of a tropical complaint than is bacillary
dysentery, but the latter is also common both in tropical and temperate
climates. Both forms are transmitted in much the same way and their
symptoms are very similar. Hence from the layman’s point of view no good
purpose is served by considering them separately, at least so far as
methods of transmission and symptoms go. The treatment of the two forms,
however, differs, and to carry out such treatment effectively medical
skill is required.
_Causes._—Dysentery is conveyed by impure drinking water, contaminated
food, infected flies, and possibly also by infected dust. In both forms,
but especially in the amœbic variety, the so-called “carrier” plays an
important part, because in the latter case the organism produces cysts
which are passed by the bowel, and these cysts are frequently found in
the dejecta of persons who have suffered from amœbic dysentery and who
are either convalescent or possibly in quite good health. If these cysts
find their way into food or water and are then swallowed they are capable
of developing in the human intestine and producing dysentery. Carriers
are also met with in the bacillary form of the disease. Dysentery may be
provoked by chills, general debility and exhausting conditions, such as
chronic malaria.
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