Medicine.

Date:
[1919?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Medicine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    14/454 (page 8)
    by diarrhoea and by the presence of a scanty eruption appearing in successive crops, and ending by lysis. There are characteristic ulcerations of the small intestine, and the spleen and mesenteric glands are enlarged. What are the Characters of the Organism 1 The bacillus typhosus, or bacillus of Eberth, is a short, thick, mobile bacillus with rounded ends and numerous flagella. It has a negative reaction to Gram’s stain. It occurs in the rose-spots, the stools, the urine, and can be cultivated from the peripheral blood, at least in the earlier stages of the disease. After death it is also to be found in the intestinal ulcers, mesenteric glands, spleen, and gall-bladder. How does the Organism enter the Body 1 Principally by way of the alimentary tract. Infected stools, disposed of by imperfect drains, contaminate the rain-water of the soil, and may thus pollute a water supply. Dairy utensils washed by such water become infected, and the milk they contain is then a source of disease. Uncooked vegetables grown on infected soils, shell-fish from polluted river beds, food on which flies have rested after alighting on the excreta, may also spread the disease, and infection may follow direct contact with the stools or with infected linen. Milk and. wafer, even in the shape of ice, are the most frequent vehicles. Are there any other Sources of Infection ? If the exposed stools become dry, their dust may be disseminated by the air. Those who have recovered from cntiiic often harbour the bacillus for long periods, especially m t le gall-bladder, and their stools may be a constant source of danger. Such individuals are called “typhoid carriers.