Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 February 1881 — What a Physician Says About Diphtheria. [ARTICLE]

What a Physician Says About Diphtheria.

New York, December 24,1880. To the Editor of the Ledger: Sir : —The correspondent who sends you the recipe for diphtheria places too much confidence in the statement of the physician “who says that of one thousand cases in which it has been used not a singly patient has been lost.” This statement is sufficient to justify the suspicion that not one of the thousand cases was diphtheria. Your advice “to consult a pliysicia” wiil prevent many of your readers making the fatal mistake of treating a serious disease with trifling remedies. It v/ould be well for your re xders to have some personal knowL edge of the characters of the physicians they consult. There are uh sorts of men and women in the medioinal profession, and the possession of a diploma from a medical college, or a license from a state to practice medicine, is not conclusive evidence of moral fitness or professional capacity. i Some physicians are so careless that I contagion follows them as sure as effect follows cause: and there have been eases wnere the circumstances lead to the suspicion that contagion was intentionally propagated. In the abseace of aphysieiaa the best course to follow in a case supposed to be diphtheria is to isolate tho patient in as well ventilated and comfortable a room as circumstances admit, Make a solution by dissotviag sixty grains of nitrate of silver In four fluid ounces of water. This is to be used as a gargle; its object Is to destroy the membrane. Make a solution by dissolving one teaspooufiil of strong carbedie acid in one pint of water; to be used as a gargle; its object is to to destroy the contagion. These gargles are used alteraately every hour or two hours, according to the” effect produced. Swabbing the throat sho’d not be attempted by one who is not familiar with the operation and its dangers, for if, it be not done with tact and skill, it wiliyconvert a curable case into a fatal one, by causing the patient to draw portions of the diseased membrane Into the larynx.— As we have no specific for diphtheria the internal remedies must be pre scribed, ana the general management must be conducted by a physician who has knowledge and experience sufficient to modify the treatment ac cording to the necessities of the case. All towels, handkerchiefs and clothing of the patient must be earefully disinfected, and those articles of small value destroyed by fire. Very respectfully yours, Mhdicus. The writer of the above communication is well known to us as a physician who is thoroughly informed with regard to the latest developments of medical science. Any one who reads the letter cannot help feeling that “Medicus” knows what he is writing about.—Ed. Ledger.