PREVENTION, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT 



267 



Vaginitis or Vulvo- Vaginitis. 



Inflammation of the vulva and vagina, or of the vagina alone, 

 occurs most frequently after labor and is due to infection of in- 

 jured parts. It may occur at other times from irritation caused by 

 strong injections, from the effects of foreign bodies, etc. A form 

 of vaginitis, due probably to a specific germ, is contagious and 

 communicated to the cow by the penis of the bull, appearing shortly 

 after copulation. The acute form tends to become chronic and 

 persistent if untreated. Vaginitis with croupous patches is some- 

 times seen in the course of puerperal fever (see p. 215). 



Treatment. — In the acute stage, with swelling of the vulva and 

 active inflammation and discharge from the vagina, the use of warm 

 alkaline injections into the vagina through a perforated, sterilized, 

 rubber tube is indicated. One tablespoonful of sodium bicarbonate 

 to the pint of water may be used. The vulva should be anointed 

 with vaseline. If there are deep lacerations in the vagina, it should 

 be washed with one per cent, lysol or saturated boric acid solution, 

 and the vagina filled with dry boric acid, packed with gauze and 

 frequently dressed. After the acute condition has passed, vaginal 

 injections may be made with zinc or copper sulphate, one dram of 

 either to the pint of water, used twice daily. The occasional use 

 of a five to ten per cent, argyrol solution is an efficient remedy for 

 local application by means of a swab to the vagina. The existence 

 of a vaginal discharge is not necessarily significant of a vaginitis, 

 as it may originate in the uterus. Examination with a speculum 

 will disclose the source of the trouble. 



Varola — Pox of Sheep, Cattle, Swine, Goats, Dogs, Birds and 

 Monkeys. 



Variola in man (smallpox) and in animals is the same disease, 

 although the symptoms in animals are usually much milder and the 

 result favorable. Sheep-pox most nearly resembles smallpox in its 

 symptoms and mortality. Smallpox produces the form of variola 

 natural to animals when its virus is inoculated into them. Variola 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



