Proceedings of the quarter-centennial celebration of the establishment of the Michigan State Board of Health : held at Detroit, Michigan, August 9, 1898.

Michigan. State Board of Health

Date:: 1898

Credit: Proceedings of the quarter-centennial celebration of the establishment of the Michigan State Board of Health : held at Detroit, Michigan, August 9, 1898. 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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$(,)i: ART I'lJ {-(' I'INT KN N J A L t’ H L KRIl ATlON l(i. ssystfiiiiitic (iissciiiiiiation of dotnilod diicclions aiid liyj^ieniir lules fur the siiecial needs ol unsanitary features and conditions of any kind or nature, and their ajijilicatioii judiciously insisted u])on. 17. Ki}>:id enforcement of the penalties for violation of all sanitary laws, ami especially those relating to infections diseases and their con- trol. lb. Ivej^nlations and rules didininp; the relation of the medical prac- titioner to the medical ollicer of health, regardinj; their respective duties to infections diseases. 11). (Jnalillcations of the highest grade in medical otlicers of health who should possess technical education, tact, lirmness and fearlessness, and who should be selected on aceonnt of litness. The municiiiaility should not he t'.xposed to tin unnecessary risk by jmlitii s. It should over- ride it. lM(. Arraingements for ki*<*ping tin* llesilth Dejaartment open on every day in the yeair, iiml jit aill hours—d<iy <md night—!<► receiva? reports of infectious disestses so tlmt no time nmy lx? lost in taking such imme- diaite action jis the emergency (hmmnds. The scojie of this paper jtrecludes the considei'aition of each proposition ill detail, llowevei', ;is at lypi* for tin* jaurjiose of elucidaition aiiul dem- onstraiting the jahaises in the d(*v(*lopment of meaisures adopted for the restriction of diseases in Rutfalo, the three mailadies— Diphtherial, as rejiresenting the contagious aind infectious; Tuberculosis, combining contagion with heredity; Infantile diarrluea, as illustraiting the dietetic and hygienic,—will best serve the object. niphthcrla. The naiture (»f diphtherial, its jiossibilities aind long recog- nition has aittracted the efforts of the sainitairiain and jiliysician, so that today the most glorious triiimjdis in the reduction of mortality have been achieved by the employment of preventive measures. Thus, baisiMl ujion our jiresent sainitary knowledge*, we combait it upon the subjoined principles. a. That it is a contagious, virulent malady, cajiable of enormous injury and dependent upon a specitic organism resident in the throat or other locality attacked. b. That under certain ])rocedures, if jiossibh* to cairry forth to ai suc- cessful end, it could practically be stamped out. The grouj) of acute infectious diseases of which diphtheria is ai repre- sentative. (lemands and should receive the most aiggri'ssive action. While ever present, its limitations have step by steji progressively, been circumscribed, and this has been and can be accomplished in communities upon the following lines: First and most imjiortant, the proinjit recognition of the true nature of the malady. No alfection has been the subject of more difference of opinion in diagnosis by the rank and file of practitioners. In many cases, j>ending the correct diagnosis of the disease, great havoc lias been wrought, while on the contrary, the erroneous assum]»tion of its existence has entailed anxiety, economic damage, and worse, either a distrust of correct diag- nosis or apathy towards its possibilities. With the possibilities of accurate diagnosis by bacteriological tests, it is now incumbent upon all properly protected municipalities to have$