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Show You and Your Health! - '. By MORRIS FISHBEIN HHoe. Journal ml hW Amaui Medical Aiaoclerloa. ens' et Hyqele. Mm - H Wi Mseesiao The diet of the young dlphtbe- ; rla victim should be largely liquid, including plenty of milk, egg-nog, -and cereals, during the first few days. Later, the diet is increased. particularly by the addition of '.foods rich In iron and vitamins which will aid In rebuilding trr blood injured by the Infection. In diphtheria the heart usually Is subjected to a severe strain, and the patient should always rest In bed. Moreover, the heart must be studied carefully for several sev-eral weeks after the patient recovers re-covers to make certain that It has not been damaged In any way.' All sorts of gargles, sprays, and washes have been recommended from time to time for use la diphtheria. ' Nowadays, It Is customary cus-tomary to leave the nose and throat alone. If, however, there Is a foul odor In the throat, mild antiseptle washes or gargles are sometimes desirable. In some cases of diphtheria In . which antitoxin Is not gflren soon enough, there may be secondary paralysis, due to the action of Ue diphtheria poison on the nerves. . The most common Is that involving in-volving the palate, making It Impossible Im-possible for the child to speak clearly or to swallow easily. A child with this type of paralysis will speak .With a nasal tons of voice, and fluids put into his mouth csnnot be swallowed, but will be returned through his nose. In such cases, it frequently Is necessary to give fluids and liquid foods by passing a tube through the nose into the esophagus until the paralysis of the swallowing muscles Is overcome. When the methods of treatment already mentioned are applied sufficiently early, most cases of diphtheria recover. When antitoxin anti-toxin is given on the first day, less than 2 per cent of the patients pa-tients die. When it is not given until the fourth or fifth day, as many as 10 to 15 per cent may succumb to this disease. The. Importance of early diagnosis and early treatment treat-ment with sufficient antitoxin -cannot, therefore, be overemphasized. overempha-sized. When your child In the home has diphtheria, spoons, forks, knives, and dishes should be set apart for his special use. And the ' youngster must be kept isolated until two successive cultures taken from his nose and throat are shown to be free from diphtheria diph-theria germs. These cultures should not be J made until the child has been without fever for at least 10 days. If the cultures continue te contain con-tain large numbers of germs after the child has been isolated for more than three weeks, it is customary cus-tomary to test the germs on a guinea pig to see whether the animal ani-mal will contract diphtheria. J . If they are sufficiently virulent 1 to kill the animal, it is necessary I to apply measures to rid the pa- 1 tient of the diphtheria germs. I Otherwise he will be a carrier who I will menace everyone who comes in contact with him. In the treatment of the carrier, as has already been mentioned, it is customary to remove his tonsils ' and adenoids, to apply certain antiseptic preparations, and' to cleanse bis nose and throat frequently fre-quently with warm normal salt solutions. The use of the ultra- ' violet ray applied directly to the throat hss also been mentioned as a means of clearing a carrier from virulent diphtheria germs, but this method has not yet been proved to be of value. |