70 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



INFANTILE DIARRHEA 



There are 75,200 deaths, annually, due to diarrhea in chil- 

 dren under 2 years of age, a mortality exceeding the sum of 

 the death caused by measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, 

 diphtheria and typhoid fever by 6,000. 



This loss of life is mainly preventable. It is due to summer 

 heat, want of care, ignorant feeding, improper food and bad 

 hygiene. Many of these deaths would be avoided if maternal 

 feeding was more common. Holt has shown that the death 

 rate of the artificially fed infant to the breast nourished is in 

 the ratio of 32 to 1. Maternal feeding requires little effort 

 or care; artificial feeding demands intelligence, judgment and 

 the means for the purchase of the proper food. Artificial 

 feeding per se is not to blame, but ignorant feeding, the giving 

 of contaminated or improper food or the failure to modify 

 the quality and quantity of clean wholesome food to the needs 

 of each child. 



Heat seems to bear a direct relation to the occurrence of 

 "summer diarrhea." It affords a better opportunity for the 

 growth of bacteria in the child's food and for an increase of 

 the normal flora of the intestine. It may so influence normal 

 digestion and metabolism as to lead to the formation of toxic 

 substances which may cause diarrhea. 



Enteritis may be largely prevented by maternal feeding. 

 The distribution of clean milk and the instruction of the moth- 

 er in its modification to meet the special needs of her child, will 

 do much to reduce the incidence of diarrhea. Strict attention 

 should be given to the cleanliness of the nursing bottles, nipples 

 and to the hygiene of the baby. The clothing of the child 

 should be determined by the temperature rather than by tra- 

 dition. Congested living quarters should be avoided and the 

 infant should be kept out of doors as much as possible. The 

 months of July and August should be spent in the country ; if 

 this is not feasible, the child should have the full benefit of the 

 parks. 



THE DEGENERATIVE DISEASES 



Deaths due to lesions of the heart, kidneys and blood vessels, 

 the diseases of old age, are on the increase. They are becom- 

 ing more frequent before fifty and many individuals are dying 



