The Eugenic Marriage, Volume 4 (of 4): A Personal Guide to the New Science of Better Living and Better BabiesHague, W. Grant (William Grant)
Science
The Eugenic Marriage, Volume 4 (of 4): A Personal Guide to the New Science of Better Living and Better Babies
Hague, W. Grant (William Grant)
Eugenics; Hygiene; Marriage
2nd. It is called "false" croup, because "true" croup is always
diphtheritic and is a very serious disease.
3rd. For that reason a physician should always be called because if it
is "true" croup antitoxin must be given at once.
4th. Don't worry unnecessarily because, though "spasmodic croup" can
make the child look exceedingly sick for a very short time, an
uncomplicated case in a healthy child is seldom if ever dangerous.
TONSILITIS: ANGINA: "SORE THROAT"
This is one of the frequent diseases of childhood. We rarely see it in
infants. It is caused by inhaling air which contains poisonous germs.
These germs quickly develop when conditions are favorable. They lodge in
the pores or follicles of the tonsils and set up an active inflammation.
The tonsils swell up and the follicles exude a thick fluid which looks
like curdled cream. This fluid sticks in the mouths of the follicles
forming spots. If enough of this fluid is coming out, these spots join
together forming patches, and the patches may join together forming
membrane. This is why it is sometimes so difficult to tell whether the
case is one of tonsilitis or diphtheria.
Conditions are favorable to the development of tonsilitis if the child
is not in good health when he happens to inhale the infection, when the
feet are wet or cold, or when the child is allowed out during inclement
weather and it becomes chilled or numbed from cold, when the child has a
cold in the head and a running nose, or when its stomach is out of
order. Any condition in which the child should be carefully watched and
tended to, rather than allowed further liberties, or risks, conduces to
sore throat of some kind.
Some children have the disease a number of times; they seem to be
predisposed toward a sore throat. These are children who have large
tonsils or who are rheumatic. The tonsils should be removed in the one
case, and the tendency to rheumatism should be the main treatment in the
other case.
These children should be encouraged to cleanse the throat and nose
morning and night with a warm salt solution (half a teaspoonful of
ordinary table salt to three-quarters of a cup of warm water). This will
help greatly to prevent these chronic sore throats.
Symptoms of Tonsilitis.--The disease begins suddenly. The child may
have a chill or be seized with sudden vomiting or diarrhea. A very young
infant may have a convulsion. The usual way is for the child to develop
a fever quickly, to complain of being sick and tired. Muscular pains all
over the body and a severe headache are constant symptoms. The
fever is usually high from the beginning. The child will tell you its
throat is sore, but there is as a rule very little pain in the throat.
The little spots or patches can be seen on one or both tonsils. The
general symptoms are more pronounced than the local throat symptoms. The
amount of physical depression that is caused by a tonsilitis is out of
all proportion to the seriousness of the disease.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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