Hydriatic treatment of Scarlet Fever in its Different FormsMunde, Charles
Science
Hydriatic treatment of Scarlet Fever in its Different Forms
Munde, Charles
Hydrotherapy; Scarlatina
As in almost all eruptive fevers, so in scarlatina, the patient begins
with complaining of shivering, pain in the thighs, lassitude, and
rapidly augmenting debility; frequently also of headache, which, when
severe, is accompanied with delirium, nausea and vomiting. The fever
soon becomes very high, the pulse increasing to upwards of 120 to 130
strokes in a minute, and more; the heat is extreme, raising the natural
temperature of the body from 98 to 110-112 degrees Fahrenheit, being
intenser internally than on the surface of the body. The patient
complains of severe pain in the throat, the organs of deglutition
located there becoming inflamed, and swelling to such a degree that
swallowing is extremely difficult, and even breathing is impeded. The
tongue is covered with a white creamy coat, through which the points of
the elongated papillae project. Gradually the white coat disappears,
commencing at the end and the edges of the organ, and leaves the same in
a clean, raw, inflamed state, looking much like a huge strawberry. This
is called the _strawberry tongue_ of scarlet-fever, and is one of the
characteristic symptoms of that disease. There is a peculiar smell about
the person of the patient, reminding one of salt fish, old cheese, or
the cages of a menagerie.
4. PERIOD OF ERUPTION, OR APPEARING OF THE RASH.
Commonly, on the second day, towards evening, sometimes on the third,
and only in very bad cases later, the rash begins to make its
appearance, under an increase of the above symptoms, especially of the
fever and delirium, and continues to come out for about twelve hours.
Usually the eruption commences in the face, on the throat and chest;
thence it spreads over the rest of the trunk, and finally it extends to
the extremities. The minute red points, which appear at first, soon
spread into large, flat, irregular patches, which again coalesce and
cover the greater part, if not the whole, of the surface, being densest
on the upper part of the body, particularly in front, in the face, on
the neck, the inner side of the arms, the loins, and the bend of the
joints. The scarlet color of the rash disappears under the pressure of
the finger, but reappears immediately on the latter being removed.
Sometimes the eruption takes place with a profuse warm sweat, which
prognosticates a mild course and a favorable issue of the disorder.
Together with the appearance of the rash, the disease develops itself
also more internally: the inflammation of the mouth and throat
increases; the tonsils and fauces swell to a high degree; the eyes
become suffused and sensitive to the light; the mucous membranes of the
nose and bronchia become also affected, the patient sneezes and coughs,
and all the symptoms denote the intense struggle, in which the whole
organism is engaged, to rid itself of the enemy which has taken
possession of it.
5. PERIOD OF EFFLORESCENCE, OR STANDING OUT OF THE RASH.
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