56 EPIDEMIC DISEASES TRANSMITTED BY MILK. 



effects of clean and of highly polluted milk in infant feeding. 

 Clinical .studies have shown that in hot weather children do 

 the best on good milk, and the wor.st on bad milk (26). The 

 marked decline in infant mortality in New York City, due for 

 the most part to the decline in mortality from summer diarrhea, 

 bears a close relation to the adoption of methods for rendering 

 milk safe (9). Goler (11 ) has shown the very striking effect 

 of reducing the bacterial content of a city milk supply, and 

 has shown a remarkable coincidence of simultaneous decline 

 of both bacterial count and infant death rate. The importance 

 of house infection in epidemic diarrhea, has been emphasized 

 by Newsholme (24) . He believes that the bulk of the infection 

 in epidemic diarrhea is derived in some way within the house, 

 and not derived from the farm. Sandilands holds similar 

 views (30). In proportion to the number of consumers, he 

 noted more diarrhea in infants fed on Nestl^'s food containing 

 a few bacteria, than those on cow's milk with phenomenal 

 numbers of bacteria. He believes the disease to result from 

 food infection, generally from the excrement of a patient. He 

 emphasizes the importance of flies as agents in the transmission 

 of infection. 



REFERENCES. 



1. Blum. Streptococcu.'; diarrhea in San Francisco (streptococcus 

 gastro-enteritis). J'cdiairics, Vol. XXI, No. 1, January, 1904. 



2. BowHin. Milk, the vehicle of contagion in an outbreak of diph- 

 theria, l^ef. Record No. 561, April 8, 1899. 



3. Dean and Todd. E-^periments on the relation of the cow to milk- 

 diphtheria. Jour. Hyo\ (Cambridge), Vol. II, 1902, p. 194. 



4. Dei.kpine. Milk and other food poisoning and epidemic diarrhea. 

 Jour. Conip. Path, and Ther., Vol. XVI, 1903, p. 77. 



5. f;ager. Morbidity and mortality statistics as influenced by milk. 

 Bui. No. 11, I-Iyg. Lab., U. S. Pub. Health and Mar. Hasp. Serv., 

 Washington, D. C, 1908, p. 229. 



6. I-vDiTORiAL. Streptococcus infection of the inte,stinal tract. Jour. 

 Amer. IMed. Assoc, Vol. LI, 1908, No. 15, p. 1236. 



7. EvRE. The Bacillus diphtheriie in milk. Biit. Med. Jour., Sept. 

 2, 1899. 



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