Diphtheric germs are found in the throat of the average person. These germs, however, will not multiply nor develop until the tissues of the throat are depleted. The tissues then become pathological and form food for the bacteria, but even then they will not develop unless the temperature and moisture are exactly right. Bacteria multiply very rapidly when there is waste material in the tissue of the throat which furnishes food and when the environment is conducive to their development. The tissues weakened by the decrease in the flow of mental impulses are not able to expel the germs and they accumulate, not as the cause of dis-ease, but as a result of dis-ease. The bacteriologist examines a culture from the throat of the patient and because he finds the germs present he says the germs cause the dis-ease, since no other cause is known; strange to say, however, when the patient is adjusted and the tissues become normal it is not necessary to kill the germs. They will starve to death and Innate will excrete them.
Bacteria are found everywhere and in almost everything. In food, water, on the walls and floors, and in the pores of the skin. All life is due to the action of these bacteria. The action of the germs soon produce fermentation and putrefaction of dead animal tissue and of vegetables, thus reducing them into simpler elements which furnish nourishment for plant life. The plants furnish food for animals and man, and thus we have what is known as the food cycle. So we see that vegetation is dependent upon bacterial action for its supply of food. If the bacteria were all destroyed there would soon be an end of food and plant life would die because of starvation. If there was no plant life the animal kingdom would be robbed of its food supply. Thus we see the important function performed by the bacteria.
The so-called dis-ease germs may be found in the healthy body, but that body does not have the dis-ease merely because that germ is present. If, however, there is a subluxation which interferes with the transmission of mental impulses the tissues soon become pathological and proper environment is created for the development of the germ. Then this germ propagates and soon there is a large number present. These germs will, however, disappear as soon as the tissues become normal. In other words, when the incoördination is restored to coördination the germs disappear.
Source of Communication
There are two recognized principal sources of communicable dis-ease common to man, namely, man himself and the lower animals. It is interesting to note that most of the so-called communicable dis-eases are peculiar to man alone. They are not found in the lower animals except as they are communicated by man for experimental purposes. It is true that domesticated animals are more susceptible to dis-ease than wild animals.
From the standpoint of hygiene there must be a distinction made between the source of infection and the media of conveyance. Man and animals are considered the main sources of infection. Environment is regarded a source of infection. It is maintained that water, food, air, and soul form a media for conveyance, but they are not considered sources of infection. Rosenau, one of the leading hygienists, states that “most of the microörganisms causing the communicable dis-eases of man are frail and soon die in our environment, as in the air, soil or water.” Notwithstanding this fact, some still maintain that these frail little germs cause dis-ease.
Modes of Transfer
Hygienists assert that germs are transmitted either by direct or indirect means. The vehicles of transmission may be man himself, animals, or anything that will carry the germs from one person to another. Price says, “The most frequent and demonstrated mode of infection is by direct contact of dis-ease with the healthy, of the persons surrounding the infected one, such as physicians, nurses, etc.”
We must differentiate between the mode of transmission, or, as it is sometimes called, the mode of infection, and the channel of infection. The channel of infection is the passage through which the germs enter the body. In tuberculosis the channel of entrance might be the respiratory tract, through the skin, or by means of the digestive tract, while the mode of infection or mode of transfer might be by such means as milk or sputum.
There are two principal modes of transference: (a) direct or contact infection, (b) indirect infection. Under this second heading would be included carriers or intermediate host. Direct or contact infection is from person to person and may be accomplished through discharges from the nose and mouth or other excretions from the body. There are many dis-eases supposed to be transferred from person to person by direct contact. Such dis-ease as diphtheria, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, syphilis, gonorrhea and skin dis-eases belong in this class. It is also asserted that these same dis-eases may be transmitted from person to person by intermediate agents. For example, typhoid germs may be transmitted in fecal matter into the water supply and ingested into the body. The gonococci may be deposited upon fomites, such as bedding, and transferred to other individuals. From a chiropractic standpoint these incoördinations will be produced only when there is interference with transmission of mental impulses, preventing intellectual adaptation taking place in the body.