Modern diagnosis and treatment of diseases of childern; a treatise on the medical and surgical diseases of infancy anf childhood . to life, so much sothat rooms previously occupied by diphtheria patients and leftvacant for weeks frequently harbor infective diphtheria bacilli,having resisted disinfection and prolonged ventilation. The diphtheria bacilli have a predilection for the lining of thenasopharynx and larynx, especially of children of from two toeight years of age. By far more seldom they attack other parts DIPHTHERIA. 297 of the body, , intestines, by extension of the primary infla
Modern diagnosis and treatment of diseases of childern; a treatise on the medical and surgical diseases of infancy anf childhood . to life, so much sothat rooms previously occupied by diphtheria patients and leftvacant for weeks frequently harbor infective diphtheria bacilli,having resisted disinfection and prolonged ventilation. The diphtheria bacilli have a predilection for the lining of thenasopharynx and larynx, especially of children of from two toeight years of age. By far more seldom they attack other parts DIPHTHERIA. 297 of the body, , intestines, by extension of the primary inflamma-tion. After imbedding themselves into the primarily affected ystructures the bacilli multiply and secrete their toxins, whichenter the tissues and lymphatics and thence produce generalinfection. The incubation period varies from five to ten days. As a rule,the onset is sudden with vomiting, headache, chills, fever, sorethroat, and difficulty in swallowing. Not rarely however it ispreceded by indefinite signs of ill health of a few days duration,consisting of anorexia, lassitude, slight fever, irritation of the. Fig. 80.—Diphtheria or Klebs-Loffler bacilli; smear prepara-tion from tonsillar deposit. Lofflers stain. X 800. (Lenhartsand Brooks.) respiratory tract, etc. In such cases the active stage of the dis-ease may insidiously follow upon the prodromic stage withoutany pronounced variation in the clinical manifestations, the throatsymptoms often remaining latent until discovered by a routineexamination of the throat or unmasked by grave correlative symp-toms. The importance of a routine examination of the throat ofchildren in all kinds of complaints, therefore, is obvious. The initial symptoms of the disease are not very characteristic,especially if the attack is mild. The uvula and tonsils areinflamed and somewhat enlarged. Careful inspection of thethroat usually reveals upon the inner tonsillar or faucial surfacesa small, uneven, grayish-white, slightly eleva
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectchildren, bookyear191
