DIARRHEA
Diarrhea is a symptom of an acute illness, or it may be associated with a chronic condition such as chronic intestinal indigestion, tuberculosis of the bowel, or may occur alternately with constipation in colitis. It is the most dangerous of all symptoms that babies develop, and in spite of all the instruction given to mothers at the present time, in spite of all the welfare stations in large cities, and in spite of all the efforts put forth by the commissioner of health, with his corps of visiting nurses—even yet, more babies die of diarrhea each summer than from any other single cause.
There are usually just two reasons for diarrhea—uncleanliness and bad milk. During the hot summer days flies multiply greatly and all manner of bacteria and germs grow in warm, moist, shadowy places, so that usually before the milk leaves the dairy farm it is seriously contaminated with disease-producing germs. If the milk is not kept at a temperature of 35 or 40 F. (which is just above the freezing point), these bacteria, particularly the manure germ, grow at such a rate that by the time the milk gets to the infant it is teeming with bacteria, and diarrhea is the sure result.
Another form of diarrhea is cholera infantum, where the stools soon become watery and colorless. The vomiting is almost incessant and there is high fever. Fortunately it is a rare disease, but when once seen it is never forgotten. One beautiful baby weighing nearly thirty pounds was reduced to sixteen within forty-eight hours, and when death came he could hardly be recognized because of the wasting from this most dreaded of infant diseases.
Another form of diarrhea is seen in an acute inflammatory condition of the intestine itself. The stools contain more or less mucus and blood. The bowel movements, which are very frequent, are accompanied by a great deal of pain and straining. This form is often seen in the more severe types of summer dysentery. We wish to impress upon the reader's mind that these diarrheas may all be avoided if the baby's food is clean and free from germs, if the apple or pear is not only washed, but thoroughly scrubbed before paring during the summer months. If all the bottles, nipples, water, toys, etc., are adequately clean, no summer diarrhea, no dysentery, no other infection due to dirt, will attack the baby. Of paramount importance is the pasteurization of milk during the summer months, as mentioned elsewhere.