The Eugenic Marriage, Volume IV | Page 8

physician,--will, of course, reveal the true
condition and dictate the future use of the antitoxin. Antitoxin is
absolutely harmless when given to a patient who has no diphtheria.
Every case of tonsilitis should be quarantined when there are other
children in the house.
The local condition of the throat helps in the diagnosis: In tonsilitis (as
the name implies) the disease is limited to the tonsils and on the tonsils
(one or both) do we find the spots or patches. In diphtheria, on the other

hand, the membrane is not limited to the tonsils, but may cover every
part of the throat and extend into the nose and mouth. In tonsilitis it is
spots or patches we see in the throat. In diphtheria it is membrane we
see always. The difficulty here again is that if we wait till the
diphtheritic membrane covers the whole throat, antitoxin will not be of
much use.
In diphtheria we have a characteristic odor, in tonsilitis we have no
characteristic odor.
The practical lesson to be learned from this uncertainty is, immediately
to get a physician as soon as you find spots in the throat of your sick
child, unless you are absolutely sure that the condition is not diphtheria
and you are willing to take that chance.
Treatment of an Acute Attack of Tonsilitis.--Put the child in bed at
once and keep him on a light diet during the fever. Give him all the
cool boiled water he wants to drink. If the fever is very high it can be
controlled by sponging the body with cool water. If the patient is an
infant the food should be reduced to one-half strength. Tonsilitis is a
disease that runs a certain course and gets better, or the patient develops
some other more serious conditions as a result of neglect or
carelessness. We therefore try to make the patient comfortable and let
the disease take care of itself.
The throat can be gargled or sprayed with any mild antiseptic liquid, or
it can be painted with tincture of iodine or 10 per cent. solution of
silver nitrate. As a rule the gargles do not aid in the cure of the disease,
though they contribute to the comfort of the patient.
A cold compress made of half a dozen thicknesses of cloth, such as a
table napkin, and put under the jaw (not round the neck), and covered
with oiled silk and held in place with a bandage that meets and is tied
on the top of the head, is of distinct usefulness.
When it is known that the child is rheumatic, the heart must be
carefully watched during the fever and anti-rheumatic remedies
depended upon to effect a cure.

SUMMARY:--
Tonsilitis, because of its likeness to diphtheria, must be promptly and
carefully diagnosed.
A physician only is capable of making a diagnosis.
Any sore throat in a child with spots or membrane is deserving of
serious and immediate attention.
A mistake may mean death. Don't take a chance.
BRONCHITIS
Bronchitis is one of the commonest diseases of childhood. It is the
cause of many deaths. Exposure during inclement weather is as a rule
the cause of it. It occurs in all classes and conditions of children. Poorly
nourished and badly clothed children are more liable to get it than are
others. It is more dangerous in young children and infants than in older
children. A young child or an infant will get bronchitis quicker than
those older and stronger under the same conditions.
Bronchitis is often present while children are suffering from other
diseases, measles, influenza, scarlet fever, typhoid fever, pneumonia,
diphtheria, whooping-cough, for example. It may accompany any
disease of childhood, however.
Symptoms.--In infants bronchitis usually follows a "cold in the head,"
with running nose and a cough. The child is indisposed and peevish
because of the cold. In a few days the cough becomes worse, fever
develops, the breathing is quicker, and the baby looks and acts sick.
The cough may be constant and severe; sometimes the cough does not
seem to bother the baby, although this is exceptional. The breathing is
quite rapid and is accompanied with a moist, rattling sound in the chest.
The baby is restless and if the cough is severe it becomes exhausted.
Vomiting or diarrhea may be present.
Bronchitis in Older Children.--Bronchitis in older children comes on

abruptly, with fever and cough. The child may complain of headache
and pains in the chest or other parts of the body. It may begin with a
chill or chilly feelings. These children "raise" with the cough. The
expectoration may be quite profuse; at first it is a white, frothy mucus,
then yellow, and later a yellowish green; it may be slightly tinged with
blood.
There is a mild form of bronchitis in