Indirect infection is accomplished from person to person through such means as water, food, air and soil. It is claimed by medical hygienists that dis-eases may be transferred great distances by these vehicles. However, some of the so-called pathogenic germs are short lived and will therefore not infect after any length of time.
It is affirmed by some that a person may be a carrier of a dis-ease and not himself be suffering from the dis-ease. As, for instance, there are cases on record where an individual has been a carrier of diphtheria, having the germs in his own throat and from his throat the germs have found their way into the throats of others. In other words, there were pathogenic germs in his body which were doing no harm to him, but when they entered the body of others caused dis-ease. People have been found with every imaginable dis-ease germ and yet have themselves been perfectly well. Such persons are known as “carriers.” From a chiropractic viewpoint this condition is very easily explained. In such people the transmission of mental impulses is sufficient to permit Innate Intelligence to maintain a sufficient degree of adaptation to prevent the propagation of the germs, but not sufficient to enable Innate to excrete the germs as waste material.
The course followed in preventive medicine in these cases is isolation of the individuals and the strictest sanitation. Their occupations are controlled so that they will not handle food intended for other people. In these ways danger from carriers is lessened.
Pathogenic bacteria live in the bodies of infected persons, in their secretions and excretions, and in the discharges of the body, but they are not found free in Nature. The principal vehicle of transmission is man himself. He is also the principal recipient of infection. Germs may be found in the various secretions such as those from the eye, ear, nose, throat, from wounds and in the pus from abscesses; they may be found also in sputum, urine and in the solid excretions. In these ways they may be transmitted from one individual to another. They may also be carried by animals, insects, food, milk, water, air or any other mode or vehicle. The most common mode of transference, however, is from person to person.
Channels of Entry
The channels through which germs enter the body are grouped as follows: (a) respiratory tract, (b) digestive tract, (c) skin, (d) genito-urinary tract.
Since the air contains many germs at all times, it can readily be seen that the respiratory tract forms an excellent portal of entry through the mucous membrane of the eyes, nose, mouth, throat and lungs. It is asserted by those who believe that germs cause dis-ease, that the germs of diphtheria, scarlatina, measles and pneumonia enter the body through the respiratory tract. It can readily be seen that since the air contains bacteria at all times, even of the so-called pathogenic type, that they would be taken in with every breath and if these germs were the cause of dis-ease every individual would have all kinds of dis-ease. It is quite evident that these germs do not remain in the body except under the most favorable conditions, obtaining only when there is interference with transmission which makes the tissues abnormal.
It is maintained by exponents of the germ theory that the greater number of germ dis-eases are caused by the germs that enter the body through the mouth into the alimentary tract. There are many pathogenic and non-pathogenic germs contained in the food that we eat and the water that we drink, and yet these germs do not produce dis-ease in every individual, yet the exponents of the germ theory hold that typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery and many other dis-eases are transmitted to the body through the alimentary canal by means of food and water.
As a portal of entrance for germs into the body, the skin is considered of least importance since the germs will not penetrate the normal skin under ordinary circumstances. If there is an abrasion or wound infection may be produced by the entrance of germs, but this will take place only when there is sufficient interference with transmission of mental impulses to make it impossible for Innate Intelligence to bring about proper reparatory processes. Animal parasites may find a portal of entrance through the skin.
The genito-urinary tract furnishes a portal of entrance into the body for such germs as those of gonorrhea, syphilis and tuberculosis, either by direct contact or through intermediary agents. Infection of the body is by means of some of these entry channels which differ with the different bacteria. The bacteria may be entirely innocent when entering one part of the body, yet when they enter through some other portal they may be considered pathogenic. In other words, some germs will thrive in one part of the body but not in some other part.