Disinfection and individual prophylaxis against infectious diseases / George M. Sternberg.

  • Sternberg, George Miller, 1838-1915.
Date:
1900, ©1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Disinfection and individual prophylaxis against infectious diseases / George M. Sternberg. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    Handkerchiefs, napkins, and towels used in wiping away infectious discharges, if worth preserving, should be at once immersed in one of the following solutions : Chloride of lime, 2 per cent.; carbolic acid, 2 per cent.; mercuric chloride, 0.1 per cent. (=1 : 1000). Cloths used for washing the general surface of the body should also be disinfected with one of the above mentioned solutions; and attend- ants should invariably disinfect their hands by washing them in one of these solutions, when they have been soiled by the discharges of the sick. Disinfection of the Person. Labarraque's solution, diluted with twenty parts of water, is a suitable disinfecting solution for bathing the entire surface of the body of the sick, of convalescents, or of those whose duties take them into the sick-room; or a 2 per cent, solution of carbolic acid, may be used, or a solution of mercuric chloride (corrosive sublimate) of 1 : 1000. The poisonous nature of this solution must be kept in mind. The International Sanitary Conference of Rome gives the following directions with reference to the disinfection of the body after death from cholera: The body should be enveloped in a sheet saturated with one of the strong disinfecting solutions,1 without previous washing, and should at once be placed in a coffin. We see no objection to washing the body, if the strong solution of chloride of lime is used for this purpose. Washing with water would necessitate the careful disinfection of the water and cloths used for this purpose, and of the hands of the attendants. As the odor of chlorine or of carbolic acid would be objectionable under certain circumstances, we see no good reason for insisting upon the use of these agents, rather than on the odorless solution of mercuric chloride, which, in the pro- portion of 1 : 1000, would no doubt be equally effective. But when there is an odor of decomposition to be neutralized, the solution of chloride of lime will have a decided advantage on account of its de- odorizing properties. Disinfection of Clothing and Bedding. The cheapest and best way of disinfecting clothing and bedding, which is not injured by the ordinary operations of the laundry, is to immerse it in boiling water for half an hour or longer. It should be placed in boiling water as soon ;is moved from the person <>r the bed of the sick, and if it is : . to remove the articles from the room in order to accomplish this, they should be wrapped in a sheet or towel thoroughly saturated with a d infecting solution, if it is impracticable to disinfect such infected clothing and bedding immediately by boiling, it will he necessary to im- l Chlortd* of lima, 4 par c«nt., <>t.