The infectivity and management of scarlet fever / by W.T. Gordon Pugh.

  • Pugh, William Thomas Gordon, 1872-1945.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The infectivity and management of scarlet fever / by W.T. Gordon Pugh. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    own hot and cold water Httings for liand-lnisin and movable ))ath. All articles used by the patient, such as cups, plates, spoons, &c., are sterilised after use, and the nurses wash their hands and change overalls on going from one cubicle to another. In this way it has been found possible to treat different diseases in adjacent cubicles without interchange of infection. There are drawl)acks to this system, of course. From the ])atieat’s point of view the curtailment of outdoor exerci.se and the confinement to one room are objectionable ; the glass ])artition, however, relieves him from a sense of complete isolation. From the administrative asj)ect the wards are more exjiensive to build, the nursing is not so convenient—a matter of some importance when over one-third of the patients are under five years of age—and there maj’ arise difficulty in securing adequate disinfection of the attendants' hands. The drawbacks, however, are not insuimountable, and hos- j)itals of this construction have been found to work satisfac- torily in Fiance and the United States. Many of the wards of a segregation hospital could be readily converted into cubicle wards by glass ])artitions. If a suitable classitication of cases were adopted, the common bathroom and lavatory might still be used. Unless there were special indications, the overalls m ight be dispensed with, and the nurse need disinfect the hands only before and after attending to mouth and nose. In waids, where misc^ellaneous diseases, acute cases, or cases comiilicated with chronic mucous discharges were tieated, the wearing of rubber operation gloves would facilitate the frecpient washing and disinfection of the hands which would be reipiired. Cl'hese gloves are worn by nurses in the septic wards and isolation rooms of the North-Fasten! Hospital, and ))rove satisfactory.) Sterilisa- tion of the fca)d utensils is indispensable, and this might be done centrally. 'Fhe provision of several fixc*d hand-basins is an almost essential convenience, but might in nmny ca.ses prove the chief difficulty in the conversion of wards from the one system to the other. Since transfer of infection depends almost entirely on the conveyance of infective secretions by the soilc'd liands of the nuKse, on the ])laying together of the children, and the use of the same toys, and on the imperfect cleansing of eating and drinking utensils, wards modified as suggested would in all proViability meet the occasion. This method of treatment is said to be efficient in the