The general vital resistance should be raised by outdoor life, improved circulation, good food; adenoids if present, should be removed.
Medical advice should be sought in every case of severe croup, for membraneous croup usually is indicative of diphtheria, and the diagnosis is important, as on it hangs the determination of the administration of antitoxin.
PNEUMONIA
Pneumonia is always a serious disease. It is accompanied by high fever, painful, very short cough, and rapid breathing with a moving in and out of the edges of the nose as well as the spaces between the ribs. The possibilities of complications are always great—the dangers are many—so that the combined watchfulness of both the mother and a proficient trained nurse are required; not to mention the skill of the physician.
The steam tent, the mustard paste, the oil-silk jacket and the colonic flushing (described earlier in this chapter) may all be asked for by the physician in his untiring efforts to prevent dangerous complications during the course of the disease.
Plenty of moderately cool, fresh air (without drafts) is of great benefit. Never allow blue finger tips, or cold ear tips to exist; send at once for the doctor and administer a hot bath, or wrap in a sheet dipped in hot mustard water while awaiting his arrival. No mother should think of attempting to carry her baby through an attack of bronchitis or pneumonia without the best medical help available.