Measles is a frequent accompaniment of war, or any other occasion which
brings large numbers of persons together under unhygienic conditions. In
fact, measles is one of the most formidable of camp diseases. This fact is
well demonstrated by morbidity and mortality statistics of the Civil War.
At that time the mortality rate was very high in the general field
hospital at Chattanooga, being 22.4 per cent, and in the general field
hospital at Nashville it was 19.6 per cent. In 1865 there were 38,000
cases with 1,900 deaths from measles in the Confederate army. It is
reported that during the Brazilio-Paraguayan War an epidemic of measles
swept off nearly a fifth of the Paraguayan army in three months.
It is thus seen that measles is many times a very severe disease, one
which can not be dealt with lightly, one to which we should not expose our
children. A child with measles should be put to bed and kept there as long
as it has any fever or cough. The room should be airy, but it should be
darkened, because children with measles are very sensitive to light. The
bedclothes should be light, because the child is apt to get too warm, kick
off the covers, and suffer from the cold. A chilling in this way may
predispose to pneumonia. Food should be light and should consist chiefly
of nutritious broths, pasteurized milk, soft-boiled eggs, and the like.
Ice lemonade will bring comfort to the inflamed throat. The child’s eyes
should be kept clean, and should the fever get high the comfort of the
little sufferer may be increased by sponging with tepid water and alcohol.
Sometimes it is necessary to put an ice bag to the head, but, if the child
is sick enough to require this, skilled assistance should be summoned.
When the fever and cough have gone the child may be allowed to be up and
about the room, but for a time should not indulge in violent exercise,
because there is often some weakening of the heart muscle by the disease.
The aim is to allow the heart muscle to regain its normal condition before
putting too much strain upon it. The diet should be increased when the
fever has gone away, and should include good, plain, strong foods. If
there is a tendency to regain weight and strength slowly, the child may be
given an increased amount of pasteurized cream or good butter. If the
child prefers cod-liver oil, this may be substituted.
The important point about the prevention of the disease is the fact that,
judging from the experiments of Anderson and Goldberger above referred to,
measles is rarely transmissible after the fever has gone down.
Experimenting with monkeys, they found that they were unable to transmit
measles from monkey to monkey after the stage of fever had ceased. It used
to be thought that the germs of measles were in the scales of skin which
were shed at the close of the disease.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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