Symptoms. 



A Fight for 

 Human Life. 



BACTERIOLOGY IN A NUTSHELL. 



patient comes through the operation well, and 

 for a day or two seems to be doing nicely, 

 then comes a chill, a sudden rise of tempera- 

 ture, an increased pulse rate, the patient is rest- 

 less and uneasy, and has a worn, anxious ex- 

 pression; other symptoms more or less alarm- 

 ing appear. The physician is hastily sum- 

 mond, and with a grave face, which he vainly 

 tries to brighten in the patient's presence, he 

 examines the chart, then mutters beneath his 

 breath "sepsis;" always a dread word even to 

 physicians and nurses grown old in the work. 

 He removes the bandages and dressings to find 

 abscesses formed about the stitches he had put 

 in with such care, or, worse still, pus oozing 

 from between the stitches. Then comes a 

 hand to hand fight to overcome the effects of 

 the poison and to save human life, which, sad 

 to say, cannot always be accomplished, no 

 matter how closely the physician's orders are 

 carried out. 



In place of a surgical case we may have a 

 case of *obstetrics, perhaps a case in which it 



*In some of the best Maternity Hospitals of the 

 present day all personal clothing, as well as bed linen, 

 used for both mother and infant during the first week 

 are sterilized, just as for a surgical case. This applies 

 especially to the gowns, abdominal bandages, perineal 

 pads, diapers, etc. These are put up in packages, sep- 

 arate from those containing gauze for the cord, silk, etc. 

 Each package contains sufficient clothing for one day. 

 After sterilization they are not handled until needed. 

 Infants so cared for are said to be less troubled with skin 



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