124 BACTERIOLOGY. 



tion should be given to destroying the secretions from 

 the nose and throat. These should be collected in 

 paper bags and burned. The patient should be quar- 

 antined until the skin and mucous membranes are clear. 

 After recovery the room should be disinfected. 



RUBELLA, OR GERMAN MEASLES. 



The infection is very much like measles, but is 

 usually not so severe. In preventing its spread the 

 same precautions should be taken as in measles. 



VARIOLA, OR SMALLPOX. 



Smallpox is an acute infectious disease character- 

 ized by a skin eruption that passes successively through 

 the stages of papule, vesicle, pustule, and crust, and 

 usually leaves a depressed scar. The infectious agent 

 is in the pustules, secretions, excretions, and in the 

 breath. The scales are particularly infectious, form- 

 ing a part of the dust in the room and becoming 

 attached to the furniture, hangings, and clothing. The 

 poison is very tenacious and remains virulent for 

 months. 



In caring for smallpox patients the first thing to 

 do is to isolate them, preferably in a building removed 

 from other dwellings, because of the possibility of the 

 virus being carried in the air. The strictest quarantine 

 should be enforced not only of the patients, but of the 

 attendants. Everyone that has been exposed to the 

 contagion should be vaccinated and kept under obser- 



