Practical Fever Nursing (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907. Excerpt: ... TYPHOID FEVER Definition.--Typhoid fever is an acute infectious disease caused by the Bacillus typhosus of Eberth, and is characterized by the following: Slow insidious onset; headache; anorexia; lassitude and dulness; step-like rise of temperature, which, reaching a maximum, is continued, showing morning remissions and evening exacerbations throughout; diarrhea with characteristic pea-soup stools; abdominal tenderness; tympanites; the appearance during the second week of a typic rose-colored eruption on the lower chest and abdomen, which disappears under pressure and appears in successive crops; enlargement of the spleen and a dicrotic pulse, slow in proportion to the degree of fever. Post mortem there are found ulcerations in the small intestines, swelling of the mesenteric lymph-glands and spleen, with more or less marked changes in other organs. History.--From the various writings of ancient times, for example, those of Hippocrates and Galen, it is evident that typhoid fever was known; but it was not until the beginningof the last century that it was definitely differentiated from many of the other acute febrile affections. Various synonyms have been and are still used to some extent in designating this condition, such as enteric fever, gastric fever, low fever, pathogenic fever, nervous fever, and, in children, where one sees the remittent type of temperature, it is called infantile remittent fever. Sir William Fenner (1849-1853) finally brought out fully the distinctive differences between typhoid and typhus fever. It was not until 1880 that Eberth discovered a peculiar bacillus in the organs of persons who had died of enteric fever. Previous to this various theories were given as to the cause of this disease. It was taught that putrid decomposition...