[CHAPTER XXIII]
TRANSMISSION OF DIPHTHERIA
How germs may cause sickness without entering the body
Some germs that cause disease do not get into the body, but grow upon its surface, that is, they grow on the mucous membranes—the skin of the mouth, the throat, and the nose. As they grow, they develop poisons that are absorbed by the body, and that make us very sick. The germs that cause diphtheria belong to this class.
Prevalence of diphtheria
Diphtheria is one of the most common of all the preventable diseases. It causes more deaths than any of the other diseases that can be prevented, except tuberculosis. The great prevalence of diphtheria is due to lack of care on the part of those who have this disease and of those who come in contact with them.
Where the diphtheria germ comes from
The germ that causes diphtheria always comes from some person or animal that has diphtheria. It never "just happens." If you went into your yard in the morning and found some beets growing in your flower bed, you would know positively that beet seeds had got into your flower bed in some way. You would not say that the beets just happened to grow there. So diphtheria will not "just happen." Diphtheria is always caused by germs that come from some one who has diphtheria. They may have come in a letter that was written in the room with the sick person. They may have come from the library in a book that had been used by some one ill with diphtheria. They may have come on some toy that had been played with by a child that had the disease. There are a thousand ways by which the germs may be brought to you without your knowing where they come from.
How to confine diphtheria germs