BACILLUS TYPHOSUS 121 



some authorities as the most important and fruitful 

 method. Upon bed-pans, glasses, eating utensils, bed 

 linen, or clothes there may be a few bacilli lurking, 

 which can easily be conveyed to the mouth by persons 

 handling these objects. 



The typhoid bacilli may lurk in the body, probably 

 in the bile passages, for a long time after the attack. 

 For this reason disinfection of stools and urine should 

 be continued for at least two months after the patient 

 is well. Such people as may spread the disease by 

 this means are called "carriers." There are also cases 

 on record in which persons who never suffered with 

 typhoid fever have excreted the bacilli in their stools. 

 It is probable that these persons have had sufficient 

 resistance to overcome intestinal disease, but the 

 germs have infested the bile passages and passed 

 down them to be mixed with the excreta. Two such 

 cases are known to the writer, one of which had a 

 history of having nursed her husband in a fatal attack 

 of typhoid, but whose personal history is free of any 

 illness suggesting this disease. 



Measures for preventing infection should be directed 

 toward killing all the typhoid bacilli, not such a diffi- 

 cult task. Infective material consists of feces, urine, 

 expectoration, and possibly perspiration. Any of these 

 may infect bed or body linen, and the last can spread 

 the bacilli on dishes or hands. All discharges should 

 be received in carbolic acid solutions, well mixed and 

 allowed to stand half an hour before emptying into a 

 drain. Clothing of all kinds should be soaked in car- 

 bolic or corrosive sublimate solution for an hour, and 

 then boiled. The same procedure should be followed 



