Download typhus, small-pox, and brancs. tect bothhers

accessible,onecouldhardlyexpect‘to
get the
Same benefit by means of direct rellledies, Bit
even in enteric fever, from an accurate knowledge
of the nature and locality of the diseased prOCeSi,
one is able to adopt certain precautions by1lleanS
N thelastoccasiononwhich
I hadthe
privilege of addressing you, I concluded of which the chances of a serious haemorr]1age, or
a fatal perforation of the bowel wall may to SOllle
111y remarks with a brief description of
three diseases which are associated together extent be lessened.
I n cholera also, the mucous lining of the bowels
by somepoints of similarity, viz., scarlet fever,
measles, and German measles. I had hoped to have is primarily involved, and here the virulence of the
of the
been able to deal with the remaining diseases in the diseaseis so great,andthemanufacture
benefithas been
same way, but I find this is quite impossible if we Poison SO rapid,thatbutlittle
are to devote any time to a consideration of their hitherto attained by means of direct treatment.
T h e remaining three diseases, whooping COU&
Nursing, and so am reluctantly compelled to
give
n1uIIIps, and influenza, show but little evidence of
up the attempt.
fact that they are all
Beforeleavingthesubject,however,
I should resemblance,exceptinthe
three of them very infectious.
like to point out that the remaining diseases lnay
NOW,intheNursing
of a case of anyone of
also be classedtogetheringroups,accordingto
thesespecific fevers, thereare two facts which
certainanalogies
which &hey present.Thusthe
First, that
secondgroup,comprising
typhus, small-pox, and shouldconstantlybeborneinmind.
chicken-pox have this point in common,
viz., that the disease is i?zfectious, and that it therefore behoves
the Nurseto take everyprecaution
in herpowertoprothe severity of the attack will bear an almost contect bothhers~lfundothermembersofthecqmlnunity
stant relation with the extent and development of
theskineruption.
A severeattack of typhus will fromthe c h h c e of takingthe infection, in the .
light of what is known as to the means bywhich
be characterised by a copious and dark eruption,
I have already alluded
and so with small-pox and chicken-pox, a copious infectionistransmitted.
of infection ‘in
eruption will indicate a severeattack.
A sparse tothemostfrequentchannels
I take this
rash in typhus denotes a mild form of attack, and respect to thedifferentdiseases,and
opportunity of urgingupon you the paramount
the s a m e remark holds good in respect to the other
two
diseases,
with the
exception
of certain importance of treating infection with respect, and
that it is always better in this connection to be
malignant cases of snmll-pox in which the rash is
the safe side by doing too muchrather than fOO
eitherdelayedorsuppressedaltogether;butis
replaced by the appearance of variouspatches of iittle. That ‘ l fanliliarig breeds contempt’’ is very
those of US
haemorrhageinto the substance of the skin, the trueinrelationtoinfection,andto
who
are
accustomed
to
live
amongst
infectrous
intcrnnlorgansandfromvariousmucousmemdisease there is, I fear, a great tendency to forget.
brancs.
‘l’he third group, consisting of diphtheria, enteric the force of this maxim. From want of a due regard
for the most obvious precautions there is 110 doubt
fever,andcholera,havethisfeatureincommon,
that
many valuable lives have been lost.
that in eachdiseasethere
is a distinctmorbid
T h e second fact is, that in every patient suffering
process localised i n a particular part, which ”repre6rom a severe agack of fever there is a gyeecltfrailzlyt:
sents R localmanufactory for thespecificpoison
~ ? 2 2 6 ~ ~ ~ ~T ~h e0 increased
? 2 .
combustion going
which is concerned in the production of the general
in
the
blood
and
tissues
results
not only in raPd
constitutionalsigns of the affection, andinprowasting
of
the
body,
but
also
in
a great tendericy
portion ns t h i s local process is capable of arrestfor the development of some low form of idarnny:nt pr r(:n1ov~.l,so t h e case will hold out a corres- lnatory action such a s an abscess, a cellulitis, Or a
spondlng hope in the direction of recovery.
bedsore,andas,unfortunately,
the process o f
N o w , i n ~ ~ l ~ h t h c r i a , a s t h e tis
h r omost
a t frequently digestion is alwaysgreatly interfered with, if:?,ot
- . . .- .- __entirely stopped, at the very time when its’ ~erv’ces
~$cil,<
n Lecture clclivcrc(1 at a Mcctillp of thc Royal
13ritish Kurscs’ Associnlion, on Thursdny, April 27th, 1893, ale in the greatest requisition,YOU Can wel1lmag!ne
0”
”
.
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ILIKIN; I’O\VI)ER. Bestthat moncy can buy.
BORWICJ;’S
J ~ A K I N CI’O\VI)ER.
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,aevoted S S ’ ~ . ~
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