370 



SCIENCE OF HOME AND COMMUNITY 



believed that dust is a very common means of carrying 

 disease germs. 



One way in which moist sputum may be carried is by shoes 

 and rubbers. These carry the germs directly into the house 

 on the carpets and rugs and may prove especially dangerous 

 to babes playing on the floor. 



The following table taken from Dr. Hill's The New 

 Public Health shows the most common routes of infection. 



THE CHIEF INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF THE 

 TEMPERATE ZONE 



CLASSIFIED BY 

 THEIR CHIEF ROUTES OF INFECTION 



Typhoid fever (and other intestinal 

 infections) 



Tuberculosis (human) 



Diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, 

 German measles, mumps, whoop- 

 ing cough, smallpox, chickenpox . 



Trachoma, cerebro-spinal menin- 

 gitis, leprosy 



Water, food, flies, milk, contact. 

 Flies, milk, contact. 



Milk, contact. 

 Contact. 



From this it will be seen that water and food carry only 

 the intestinal infectious diseases and that flies as carriers 

 are limited to this group chiefly, as the amount of tubercu- 

 losis carried by flies is small. Milk carries the first three 

 groups, while contact alone carries them all. In this chapter 

 we are interested chiefly in the public means of transfer, 

 food, water, milk, and flies. 



How bacteria enter the body. The chief means by which 

 bacteria may enter the body are through the mouth (in the 

 food or drink), through the nostrils and mouth in breathing, 

 and through wounds in the skin. The first two are the most 

 common means. 



The various ways in which these organisms may leave the 

 body of the patient, how they may enter the body of another 

 person, and how they may be carried from one to the other 

 are shown in the following table. 



