(b.) The cutting open of stuffed articles may seem unnecessary, but it is not. The poison of contagious diseases clings to such stuffs (called fomites) with great tenacity for years, and must be destroyed before they are fit to be used again.
5. It is also well to fill a large wad of cotton or fine shavings with coal-tar powder or chloride of lime and place it beneath the hips, to absorb fluids.
Contagious diseases are often caught at the funerals of those who have died of them, and the sanitary code of New York city forbids a public funeral of any person who has died of small-pox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, yellow fever, typhus fever, or Asiatic cholera. It is better to limit the attendance at such funerals to as few as possible.
Additional Precautions in Special Diseases.
Small-pox.—Every one in the vicinity should be vaccinated with fresh virus. Every person should be vaccinated in infancy, again after puberty, and again within four days after exposure to small-pox. Special care should be paid to isolation. Inmates of the house should neither make nor receive visits while the patient is sick.
Diphtheria and Consumption.—Special care should be taken to avoid inhaling the breath of the patient, as the diseases are communicated through the secretions of the nose, throat, and lungs. The matter coughed up should be received on rags and immediately burned.
Scarlet Fever and Measles.—These are communicable during convalescence, as well as during the illness. The body of the patient should be anointed twice a day with sweet-oil, lard, or vaseline, containing ten grains of carbolic acid or thymol to the ounce. This should be continued until all bran-like scaling of the skin is at an end. Before again associating with unprotected persons, the patient should have several complete ablutions, including thorough washing of the hair with soap or borax; and none of the clothing worn for several days before the disease declared itself should be again used until thoroughly disinfected, and ventilated in the open air several days (New York State Board of Health circular).
Typhoid Fever, Asiatic Cholera, and Dysentery.—Poison contained in discharges from the bowels. Particular attention should be paid to the disinfection of such discharges by the zinc or copperas solution.
Yellow Fever.—Poison possibly contained in discharges from stomach and bowels, but requiring special conditions for development outside the body before it can affect other persons. Excreta should be immediately disinfected. Germs may be carried long distances in fomites (clothing, bedding, and other porous substances), and disinfection of such articles must be very thorough.
Typhus Fever.—No visiting to be allowed.