A room specially equipped for the disposal of sputum is recommended. Paper sputum boxes are changed twice daily, inspected as to character, quantity and presence of blood. Then the box is filled with sawdust, wrapped in newspaper and carried to the incinerator for burning.
3. Montefiore Home Country Sanitarium, Bedford Hills, N. Y.
In cases where bed patients have a very large amount of sputum, large cups of white enamel are used, with a hinged lid that lifts readily. The sputum is from there thrown into receptacles containing sawdust, taken to the incinerator and burned twice daily. Both sputum cups and the large container holding sawdust are sterilized by live steam.
4. House of the Good Samaritan, Boston, Mass.
Paper handkerchiefs and bags are recommended when the quantity of sputum is small. Burnitol sputum cups without holders are used; the bottom of each cup holds a small amount of sawdust, which serves the purpose of hindering the sputum from penetrating through the cup. All the cups are carefully tied up in newspaper by the nurse or the patient before they are sent to the incinerator.
5. Chicago Fresh Air Hospital.
Paper fillers and metal holders are used. The fillers are placed in a large can, covered with sawdust, and then burned in the incinerator. The holders are sterilized daily. The Hospital recommends paper napkins where the quantity of sputum is small; if there is no possible means of burning the sputum, it should be treated with a strong solution of concentrated lye and then poured into the water closet.
The chief source of infection is undoubtedly the expectoration of the consumptive, spread by careless coughing and spitting. Be very emphatic in instructing the patient to cover his mouth with a paper napkin when he coughs and then to dispose of it carefully in such a way that no particle of the sputum touches either his hands or his face. Insist on frequent washing of the hands.
The following methods and solutions are employed in the treatment of laryngeal tuberculosis in various institutions:
North Reading (Mass.) State Sanatorium.