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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    THE INEECTIVITY AND MANAGEMENT OF SCARLET FEVER. Mr. President and Gentlemen, I must, in the first place, express my keen appreciation of the honour you have done me in asking me to read a paper- on this subject. I do so with the greater pleasure, since it affords m.e an opportunity of raising points of importance in the administration of fever hospitals, and of obtaining the views of an association of medical men in a position to pro- nounce an authoritative opinion. Sources of Information.—Since bacteriology un- fortunately does not afford us any real aid in deciding the question of the infectivity of scarlet fever, our ideas regarding this subject must rest rather upon analogy and surmise than upon direct and reliable evidence. It is especially in connection with return cases that attempts have been made to gather information, and the infectious convalescent will therefore figure largely in this paper. Some light is also thrown on this difficult question by a study of diphtheria, a disease in many ways analogous, the micro-organism of which is readily recognised, and concerning which our knowledge has greatly increased during the last few years. I may add that the conclusions I shall attempt to draw are in agreement with the opinions which I have formed during my experience of the disease. Diphtheria as an Analogous Disease.—It may be disputed that diphtheria is an analogous disease, and, under any circumstances, it will be well to give reasons for so regarding it. As I shall show later, the infective agent in each has been definitely proved to be present in the throat, and there is strong evidence that in scarlet fever, as in diphtheria, it is not infrequently resident in the nasal cavities also. In botli diseases tlie bacterial ])oisons exhibit selective action : in scarlet fever the kidneys, in diphtheria the peripheral nerves and heart muscle, are specifically affected. The death