Disinfection

“ When an object is contaminated with so-called pathogenic germs it is said to be infected. To disinfect an object it is necessary to destroy the microörganisms. The destruction of all so-called pathogenic germs, whether in the substance of the object or on its surface, is called disinfection. All lower forms of animal and vegetable life are destroyed in sterilization, while in disinfection only the germs which, from the medical standpoint, are the cause of dis-ease, are destroyed. ”

“ The people should be taught the necessity of isolation and disinfection; they should be warned against patent disinfectants, and told to ask competent physicians to advise them in disinfection.
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Diphtheria is not directly caused by unhygienic surroundings. A disregard for hygiene disposes a child for infection if the child is exposed to the bacillus. The specific germ must be introduced into the patient's mouth or nostrils. When a child is infected with diphtheria the breath is not a medium of contagion. The sputum, spat out or coughed out, is a means whereby the disease is spread. ”

“ Having attempted to show that disinfection must be an everyday practice in the household, and that disinfectants must necessarily be harmless antiseptic deodorizers, it is not difficult to establish a code of rules of almost universal application. There is a caution that should be given at all times in a household: Servants cannot be expected to understand the use of disinfectants any more than they can be trusted to carry out a system of ventilation. Disinfection and ventilation, therefore, should, to a large extent, be automatic processes and, happily, such things are to be found. ”

“ The doors, windows, and all other apertures must be kept closed, and the disinfection may be effected either by chlorine, which is formed by pouring hydrochloric acid on chlorate of potash, or else by burning sulphur. In either case the quantity must be sufficient to render the atmosphere of the room unbearable to a human being, or otherwise the disease germs will not be destroyed. The bedding and blankets must be sent for proper disinfection at the close of the illness. Nothing should be kept in the room except for use. ”

“ It is probable that many other forms of steam disinfector will be invented, and each will have its enthusiastic supporters. Even at the time of writing some excellent results are announced from America.
2. The effects of chemical substances as solutions, or in spray form, upon bacteria have been observed from the earliest days of bacteriology. To some decomposing matter or solution a disinfectant was added and sub-cultures made. If bacteria continued to develop, the disinfection had not been efficient; if, on the other hand, the sub-culture remained sterile, disinfection had been complete. ”

“ The means of disinfection, and the substances employed, are very numerous, as are the classes and conditions of disease and contagion they are designed to meet. Nature, in the oxidizing influence of freely circulating atmospheric air, in the purifying effect of water, and in the powerful deodorizing properties of common earth, has provided the most potent ever-present and acting disinfecting media. Of the artificial disinfectants employed or available three classes may be recognized:—1st, volatile or vaporizable substances, which attack impurities in the air ”

“ No one save the doctor or nurse should enter the room of the person quarantined. After the disease has run its course, the clothing, bedding, etc., in the sick room is fumigated. This is usually done by the board of health. Formaldehyde in the form of candles for burning or in a liquid form is a good disinfectant. In disinfecting the room should be tightly closed to prevent the escape of the gas used, as the object of the disinfection is to kill all the disease germs left in the room. ”

“ As a matter of fact, the prevention of contact infection during the illness with immediate disinfection of excreta, soiled linen and the like, is a thousand times more important than any terminal disinfection after death or recovery. At the end of the illness there will be left on woodwork or furniture only an insignificant number of living virulent germs. ”

“ A poor woman is sent to the oil shop for a little chloride of lime; a foul room is thereby rendered unbearable, the place has to be thrown open, disinfection is not attained, and the maximum of discomfort is attended with a minimum of benefit.
Some medical men are, I fear, blamable for not estimating with greater precision the real benefits derived from the use of volatile disinfectants. They are all irritating and of bad odor, and a popular belief has arisen that, unless they are foul and caustic, they can do no good service. ”

“ But the chief factor in the future restriction of the disease, as in the past, must be the disinfection of the germs immediately after they are thrown off from the consumptive patient, and it is well worth while to emphasize just what the consumptive should do or have done for him in order that he may not be responsible for the further spread of the disease. In the first place, when he spits, he must appreciate and act on the fact that the sputum is alive with consumptive germs, each one of which may possibly transmit the disease to whoever may come in contact with it. ”

“ Any substance may be regarded as a true disinfectant which, when added to a quantity of fluid swarming with bacteria, abolishes the reproductive power of these organisms. If the bacteria are capable of producing disease, or the poison of disease, a successful experiment has been made in the way of disinfection. ”

“ How to Disinfect a Room.—The most efficient way to disinfect a room is by means of formaldehyde gas. This, however, requires a special apparatus which can only be used by one familiar with the process. In all large cities the Department of Health usually undertakes the disinfection of rooms after any contagious disease. ”

“ Article XII. No merchandise or objects shall be subjected to disinfection on account of yellow fever, but in cases covered by the previous article the vehicle of transportation may be subjected to fumigation to destroy mosquitoes. In the case of cholera and plague disinfection should only be applied to merchandise and objects which the local sanitary authority considers as infected. ”

“ When a patient has recovered from diphtheria, thorough disinfection is a most important measure. Unfortunately, however, many persons consider it a hardship if articles which can not be disinfected are destroyed, and many will even use every endeavor to prevent the representatives of the Board of Health from carrying out their regulations. In this way the germ of the disease remains on the premises, and under suitable conditions again finds another victim in the household. ”

“ It is, however, necessary to learn that, in practising Disinfection, we have to neutralize the products of, or check the decay of healthy matter separated from living plants or animals, and that we have likewise to destroy specific elements of contagion, elements which differ in the various maladies that are known to be transmissible from the sick to the healthy. ”

“ No damage is done to textile fabrics; and disinfection by this means possesses the advantage over disinfection by sulphurous acid or chlorine that the room can be entered without serious discomfort soon after the disinfection is carried out. ”

“ Disinfection of Premises, etc.—Every local authority is invested with power to enforce the cleansing and disinfection of premises, and the disinfection or destruction of bedding, clothing, or other articles, which have been exposed to infection from any dangerous infectious disorder. ”

“ It should at the outset be understood that we desire in practical disinfection to inhibit or kill micro-organisms without injury to, or destruction of, the substance harbouring the germs for the time being. ”

“ Disinfection is the destruction of the poisons of infectious and contagious diseases. Deodorizers, or substances which destroy smells, are not necessarily disinfectants, and disinfectants do not necessarily have an odor. Disinfection cannot compensate for want of cleanliness nor of ventilation. ”

“ If a high enough temperature is maintained for a sufficient length of time, the action is absolutely destructive to all germs. Fire does, of course, destroy bacteria along with whatever material the bacteria [Pg 328] are concealed in, but such a disinfectant is of little value for ordinary purposes, since the object of disinfection is to destroy bacteria without destroying the surface on which they are lodged. In some old buildings, where consumption or smallpox, for example, has become permanent, it may be that the surest way of killing all the bacteria is to burn up the house. ”

“ Those directing the disinfection should always remember the bleaching and corroding power of chlorine and sulphurous acid gas.
When a patient has died from any infectious disease the body should be washed in some disinfectant solution, 242or soap should be used containing bichloride of mercury, and a sheet should be wrapped around the body wet with the same. Saturate also a large wad of cotton with it and leave it under the hips. The burial should be soon and private in these cases. ”

“ We do not yet know how the poison obtains entrance to the body. Hence, the need for thorough disinfection.
Age, Occurrence, Susceptibility.—All children exposed to the disease do not contract the disease. It is less contagious than measles. A person who is exposed once, and does not take it, may take it at a future exposure. It occurs at any age and in all countries. It occurs oftener in autumn (September) and winter (February) . Isolated cases occur, and then it is called sporadic. This disease attacks nursing children less frequently than older children. ”

“ Disinfection When the bacterial efficiency of an effluent from either preparatory or final treatment is low and the effluent is discharged into a body of water from which water supplies are derived or shell fish are taken, disinfection is often found necessary. The purpose is to destroy objectionable bacteria and disease germs. Hypo-chlorite of lime and liquid chlorine are the two chemicals most commonly used. ”

“ By actual experiment, the length of time to destroy bacteria should be learned. Too much so-called disinfection is on the shot-gun plan, and no attempt is made to find out whether it produces the desired results. Most disinfectants are more powerful if used hot. Other conditions that modify the power of disinfectants are the kind and number of bacteria to be destroyed, the quality of associated material, as well as the strength and temperature of the solution. Bichloride of mercury destroys all forms of pathogenic micro-organisms and spores. ”

“ In some of these cases the destruction of the contagium is effected by the formation of new chemical compounds, by oxidation, deoxidation or other reaction, and in others the conditions favourable to life are removed or life is destroyed by high temperature. Among the first class, aerial or gaseous disinfectants, formic aldehyde has of late years taken foremost place. The vapour is a powerful disinfectant and deodorant, and for the surface disinfection of rooms, fulfils all requirements when used in sufficient amount. ”

“ All disused cover-glasses, slides, and pipettes after use in handling infectious material, etc., must be placed in 2 per cent. lysol solution. A vessel is supplied on each bench for this purpose.
8. All plate and tube cultures of pathogenic organisms when done with, must be placed for immediate disinfection in the boxes provided for the purpose.
9. No fluids are to be discharged into sinks or drains unless previously disinfected.
10. Animals are to be dissected only after being nailed out on the wooden boards, and their skin thoroughly washed with disinfectant solution. ”

“ No merchandise is capable by itself of transmitting plague, cholera, or yellow fever. It only becomes dangerous when contaminated by plague or cholera products.
Art. 13. Disinfection shall be applied only in case of plague or cholera and only to merchandise and articles which the local health authority considers contaminated. ”

“ Bacteria are those minute organisms which under various names are the active causes not only of diseases but of all putrefaction, fermentation and like changes in dead organic matter. Like all living 386things they may be killed, and on this is based the whole theory of disinfection. Some are more hardy than others, under conditions which are frequently supposed to be unfavorable to them. Merely to destroy an unpleasant odor or to admit fresh air into a room does not mean to disinfect, and it is necessary to understand this clearly in the effort to purify rooms in the event of infection. ”

“ The safest and most thorough form of disinfection is by fire, and in the case of an isolated village prompt destruction of the infected houses by fire is the surest method of stamping out the infection. ”

“ Boiling water, on the other hand, is the most effective and penetrating disinfecting agent available. One has only to expose an object to boiling water for five minutes to absolutely kill all disease-bearing bacteria contained, and since bed linen, clothes, blankets, and such articles as are naturally used in a sick room have to be washed after a patient's recovery, it requires but very little additional trouble to subject the soiled articles to that temperature of the water which will secure disinfection at the same time. ”