[Report 1884] / Medical Officer of Health, Combined Rural Sanitary Authorities of the County of Hereford and the Urban Sanitary Authority of the City of Hereford.

  • Herefordshire Combined Rural Sanitary Authorities.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1884] / Medical Officer of Health, Combined Rural Sanitary Authorities of the County of Hereford and the Urban Sanitary Authority of the City of Hereford. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    when separation and disinfection have been properly used. When- ever children have sore throats or an eruption on the skin, they should be separated from the rest of the family until they have had medical advice or those symptoms have disappeared. Measles and Whooping-cough are contagious, and cases should be more carefully isolated and nursed than is usually done. In the event of death early burial is very desirable. Powdered charcoal, 2 lbs., Cooper’s Patent Salts, or good Carbolate Powder, or sawdust nearly saturated with a solution of chloride or sulphate of zinc, placed in the coffin retards decomposition and putrefaction, or takes away offensive smells by absorbing noxious gases. Nurses and Attendants —Woollen dresses are to be avoided, and preference given to washing materials. Prevent contact, as much as possible, between attendants and inmates of the house. After handling the sick or things connected with them, let the nurse be careful immediately to wash her hands in diluted Condy’s liquid, or with carbolic acid-soap. Disinfectants.—For Nuisance Prevention, as detected by the nose test, those most generally used are Chloride of Lime, Cooper’s Salts, Condy’s Fluid, Burnett’s Liquid, Chloralum, Carbolic Acid, and its compounds. Chloride of Lime and Chlorine require care and experience in management; when used too freely in inhabited rooms, they give rise to irritation of the lungs and air passages. Burnett’s Fluid and Carbolic Acid are most effica- cious but are poisonous, and the latter possesses a very strong smell, which to many persons is extremely offensive. Ten pounds of sulphate of iron, five gallons of water, and half a pint of common carbolic acid form a good and cheap disinfectant for diain. Iodine, volatilized on a heated surface, is an excellent disinfectant, but is expensive. Carbolic Acid, Chlorozone, or Condy’s Liquid improve the air when diffused by means of a large brush, a scent spray or the hydronette syringe with rose. For Infection Prevention,— should be thorough—not diluted, applied in considerable strength ; while the room is occupied by the living it is impossible to use volatile or aerial disinfectants in such quantity as to be of real service. When the room is vacated, to disinfect thoroughly, close the windows, stop up the chimney and every aperture and outlet from the room, and use sulphur in the proportion of 1 \ oz. for every 100 cubic feet of space. The sulphur may be safely burnt in a shallow pipkin or coarse earthenware saucer containing some live coals or coke ; the saucer should be supported on a pair of tongs laid across a pail of water, so that in case of accident the burning sulphur may fall into the water and do no injury. The room should be closed for twelve hours—then the wall papers should be removed, stripped off', and burnt; the walls, ceiling, floor, painted parts of the room and articles of furniture washed with