Diphtheria
How to Keep from Catching It
How to Treat Those Who Do Catch It
KEEP WELL SERIES No. 4
UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
1919
Diphtheria
After babyhood has passed, beware ofdiphtheria. Of all the deaths of children3 and 4 years of age, more than one-seventhare caused by diphtheria.
Diphtheria is preventable and, whenproperly treated with antitoxin, is curable.Most of the children who die from diphtheriareally lose their lives because of theignorance and carelessness of their parents.
Diphtheria is a disease most often occurringin children and resembling a sorethroat or tonsillitis. It is caused by a smallgerm called the diphtheria bacillus. Thedisease may resemble:
A very mild sore throat, the tonsils andback of the mouth being redder than usual,and the person not feeling ill.
It may look like a more severe sore throator tonsillitis with a white or grayish patch,[4]called a membrane, on the tonsils. Theremay be only one or a few small distinctpatches, and the throat may feel somewhatsore. The glands in the neck, below thetonsils, may be slightly enlarged and mayfeel about the size of small peas. Thepatient may feel rather ill.
Or the disease may be like a very severesore throat, with small or large gray orwhite patches. Not only the tonsils butalso the uvula, the small rounded end ofthe palate which hangs down between thetonsils, may have on it white or graypatches. (If there is a membrane on theuvula, the disease is almost certainly diphtheria.)With such a throat the personfeels very sick. Not only does the throathurt, but there are usually aches in theback of the neck and in the muscles generally.The glands in the neck may bequite large and feel painful when touched.The soreness in the throat may extenddown the windpipe, and membranes mayform there. The patient is feverish andoften is delirious. The fever, however, isnot necessarily high.
[5]In some cases the membranes may formin the larynx (Adam's apple). When thisis the case the patient's voice sounds hoarseand croupy, and the child may breathewith difficulty. In small children it is notuncommon, if such cases remain untreated,for this membrane to choke the patient.Therefore, in all cases of croup, send for adoctor immediately.
THROAT CULTURES.
In order to prevent the spread of diphtheriato others it is important always torecognize the presence of the disease, evenin mild cases. In order to do this the doctormakes a culture from the throat andnose of the suspected individual. He takesa piece of sterile cotton wrapped aroundthe end of a thin stick of wire and touchesthis to the throat and tonsils, especiallywhere there are patches or membranes.Then he sends this swab to a laboratory,where cultures are planted from it. Thenext day these cultures are examined with[6]a