American Red cross textbook on elementary hygiene and home care of the sick / by Jane A. Delano and Isabel McIsaac.

  • Delano, Jane A., 1862-1919.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: American Red cross textbook on elementary hygiene and home care of the sick / by Jane A. Delano and Isabel McIsaac. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    but research has proved that germs floating on par- ticles of dust speedily become dry and lose much of their vitality; and the same researches have led the way to observe that contact infection is much more common than had been supposed. A Recent Discovery.—“Undoubtedly the most fruitful medical discovery of the last century and perhaps of all time was the parasitic nature of infectious diseases. Probably the most important discovery bearing on preventive medicine since the demonstration of the bacterial origin of disease, is that disease germs frequently invade the body with- out causing disease.” (Chapin.) It has been found that many patients harbor bacteria for weeks, months or even years following an infection and are dangerous distributors of disease, known as “carriers,” also that some healthy individuals without a history of illness also harbor living bac- teria w'hich may infect susceptible persons with whom the “carrier” comes in contact. In addition much light has been thrown upon the danger from patients suffering from attacks so mild they are often not recognized, who may convey infec- tion to others which will prove of the most serious character. In the case of typhoid fever a large number of carriers have been found; in the other communi- cable diseases less is known although sufficient evi-