Variola, vaccination, varicella, cholera, erysipelas, whooping cough, hay fever / by H. Immermann [and others] ; edited with additions by John W. Moore ; authorized translation from the German, under the editorial supervision of Alfred Stengel.

  • Immermann, H.
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Variola, vaccination, varicella, cholera, erysipelas, whooping cough, hay fever / by H. Immermann [and others] ; edited with additions by John W. Moore ; authorized translation from the German, under the editorial supervision of Alfred Stengel. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    fossae—a condition which, especially in nurslings and young children, may prove fatal. The mucous membrane of the mouth is dilfusely painful; the salivary secretion is considerably increased and the secreted saliva, mingled with mucus, runs continually in viscous masses from the disfigured oi’ifice of tlie mouth, which moves with difficulty, and is incompetent. The thick and ill-shaped tongue can make only stam- mering sounds and, even by its volume, limits the space needed for the vicarious mouth-breathing. At times, but fortunately rarely, deep- lying abscesses are formed in it (glossitis variolosa). In such cases volume of the organ is greatly increased, its motility is almost completely suspended, and, by pressure on the epiglottis, death from suffocation may follow in a very short time. Very severe, and very alarming also, are the anginal symptoms arising from the pharynx; this is especially true, of course, when the inflammation does not remain superficial, but, at the time of the suppuration of the throat pocks, goes on to the for- mation of tonsillar abscesses or to some other ])h]egmonous processes in this region (for example, retropharyngeal abscesses). Furthermore, the mucous membrane of the Eustachian tube, and often also that of the middle ear, however little they may be directly occu])ied by the exan- them (see above), are the seats of a severe catarrh, which causes unpleasant sensations in the ear, tinnitus, and temporary deafness, detention of the secretion in the tympanic cavity soon leads to pene- tration of the tympanic membrane and to subsequent otorrhea. ' In these phenomena the first cause for the other severe ear difficul- ties (see Complications and Sequelae) can be found. The voice, because of the participation of the larynx, is generally hoarse, and may be entirely lost; many patients are also annoyed by a continuous irritating cough, from the same cause. Very dangerous suffocative conditions arise in children from the diffuse swelling of the respiratory mucous membranes ; but also in adults a very threatening difficulty in breathing may arise when the swelling of the aryepiglottidean folds increases to edema of the glottis, or when tlie suppuration of the laryngeal pocks, penetrating deeply, causes a perichondritis laryngea. Less noticeable, because, as a rule, less marked, is the part taken by the mucous membranes of the lower portions of the body; but even here corresponding symptoms of the disease in variola vera are not wholly lacking during the further course of the period of suppuration. The following are the most frequent complaints and symptoms : unpleas- ant, burning sensations in the anus with mucopurulent discharge and, especially, difficult and painful defecation; analogous subjective and objective symptoms in the region of the vulva and vagina in women ;