CHAPTER VII 



INFLAMMATION, SUPPURATION, PNEUMONIA, EPIDEMIC 

 CEREBRO-S'PINAL MENINGITIS 



THE microorganisms which produce inflammation 

 and suppuration, known as pyogenic or pus-forming 

 bacteria, are of especial interest to the nurse, her 

 daily routine being an almost constant combat 

 with these unseen germs, toward whose activities 

 especially is directed the complex surgical technique 

 which prevails in every department of the hospital. 



Inflammation and Suppuration may be due to 

 several organisms, no one organism being the cause ; 

 and two or more may be present, while the same 

 organism may produce entirely different results under 

 varying conditions, as in different individuals, or in 

 the same person when resistance is lowered, or when 

 the virulence of the bacteria is increased or lessened 

 from any cause; which accounts for the remarkable 

 diversity in the character of infections. For ex- 

 ample, a minute pin prick may carry virulent organ- 

 isms into the blood of a person whose resistance is 



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