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Preventable Diseases of Children: Repeat

Repeat this two or three times until the head is clear of vermin. The nits may be removed by combing the hair after it has been moistened with vinegar.

Or obtain half a pint of crude petroleum at a drug store and wet the hair thoroughly with this. Keep it wet for three hours. Then wash the whole head with warm water and soap. Repeat this process on three successive days. The nits may then be removed by combing the hair very carefully with a fine-tooth comb wet with vinegar. Repeat the combing for several days until no more nits can be found. To make the treatment easier and more thorough, the hair may be cut short, if there is no objection.

All the children in a family are likely to be affected, and should also be treated as above.

Brushes and combs should be cleansed by putting them in boiling water for a few minutes. a Or head lice may promptly be destroyed with common kerosene.

Pour a little into a small dish.

Moisten a small rag with it. After squeezing the rag somewhat, moisten the hair with the kerosened rag. Do this in the afternoon, after the children return from school, or in the evening. Before morning the oil will have evaporated so that little or no odor will remain. Or remove both oil and odor with soap and water.

Or to disguise the odor of kerosene, pour a small quantity into a vial, and add an equal amount, or less, of oil of sassafras. Shake until there is a complete mixture.

Or, dip a small, clean hairbrush into kerosene oil or oil of sassafras poured into a shallow dish. Then brush and moisten the hair with it.

Make these applications by daylight and be very careful not to let the children go near fire or lights.

For the night, cover the head with a cap, which can be improvised by knotting the corners of a handkerchief, or wrap a cloth around it. Repeat this treatment several times to ensure complete destruction of the lice and nits. Applied as recommended, kerosene is not in any way injurious to the scalp or hair.

Body Lice (Pediculus Vestimentorum). This parasite belongs to the same family as head lice but is somewhat larger. It is found commonly on the body, where it goes only for the purpose of feeding. In the adult form it can be differentiated from the head louse by dark transverse bands across the back.

The parasite lives and reproduction occurs chiefly in the various folds and seams of the clothing, and especially where the skin is most conveniently reached. Hence the various lesions are to be found most often around the neck, across the shoulders, the upper part of the back, around the waist and the outside of the thighs.

Treatment should be directed to the infested clothing where the parasite and nits are to be found. In order to destroy these, all garments should be thoroughly baked, boiled or lightly sprinkled and gone over with a very hot iron.

However, it has been observed that some of the ova or nits are attached to the fine hairs (lanugo) of the body surface. Hence a general tub bath disinfected with corrosive sublimate is advisable. Eight tablets of bichloride of mercury to a tub of water makes a strong enough solution. After the bath, flush the tub thoroughly to avoid injury to the plumbing and fixtures.

Or clothing, beds and bedding, and the like may be rid of these insects and parasites of all other kinds, by fumigation with sulphur.

Crab Lice (Phthirius Inguinalis). -These are a smaller species of the same family as head or body lice but are quite distinct on account of their shape. They are nearly as wide as long. Their strong legs, spread out laterally, give them the appearance of crabs. They are of whitish color, somewhat shaded on the shoulders, and the legs have a slightly red tinge.

Each is about one-tenth of an inch in length. They are to be found on the various hairy regions of the body other than the scalp. They do not thrive among the fine hairs of the head, though they have often been observed in the eyebrows.

Treatment. - Repeated washings with vinegar or diluted acetic acid will free the hairs of ova. This should be followed by a careful daily shampoo of all the regions involved.

After the shampoo, apply freely a solution of corrosive sublimate containing one tablet to a pint of water. If not desirable to use the mercury wash, apply a lotion consisting of tincture of larkspur, ounce; commercial ether, 8 ounces. Or use a stronger solution, consisting of equal parts of the two ingredients. Afterwards cover the parts with a closely applied dressing.

Cautions. - Corrosive sublimate (bichloride of mercury) is a powerful poison. Ether is highly inflammable. The Itch Mite. - This is a minute bug which gives rise to the condition commonly known as "Itch," "Seven- Year Itch," "Army Itch," "Jackson Itch" and many other synonymous names. The female burrows into the superficial skin forming a tortuous or, at times, a straight, dotted, slightly elevated line. This varies in length from one-eighth to one-half inch. The burrow is dark gray or blackish in color, thread-like, and may be slightly more elevated at one end.

This mite is transmitted from one individual to another by occupancy, either of the same bed, or of one on which the sheets have not been changed. It may also be transmitted by the use of a common towel and by shaking hands. It is commonly found in the moist surfaces of the body, such as between the fingers, on the hands or folds of the wrist, in the folds under the shoulder, the lower portion of the abdomen and about the neck. Its entire existence is spent on its human host. It is believed not to have any power to transmit disease, but may be inimical to the health of the individual from secondary infection of the burrows or of the excoriations produced by scratching. There may be also varying degrees of papular or pustular lesions over the infected regions.

These mites usually thrive best in unsanitary conditions. To destroy them, thoroughly boil or bake all bed linen and clothing used by the infected individual. If woolens are in use, bake them or sprinkle lightly and thoroughly iron them with a very hot iron. Take a hot bath, and rub down with a coarse washcloth or brush. This opens up the burrows and exposes the eggs for destruction.

After the bath, rub in an ointment made up as follows: Sublimed sulphur, 1 dram (1 teaspoonful); balsam of Peru, 1 dram (1 teaspoonful); vaseline, 1 ounce (2 tablespoonfuls). Repeat morning and evening from two to four days. In particularly serious cases, repeat this entire treatment at the end of one week.

Or use either of the following preparations: (1) Mix equal parts of balsam of Peru and lard. Rub these together thoroughly in a shallow plate with a steel table knife to form an ointment. Or use vaseline in place of lard, or still better, lanolin. (2) Or mix flowers of sulphur, 1 tablespoonful; balsam of Peru, two tablespoonfuls; lard or vaseline, 8 tablespoonfuls. Make into an ointment.

Take a hot bath and give the whole body a thorough scrubbing with soap and hot water. Dry the body well.

Now with the palm of the hand, rub one of these ointments thoroughly into every part of the body from the neck downward, or, at least, anoint all parts of the body which are affected. Sometimes the only parts affected at first are the hands and the arms to the elbows. To make sure work, particularly in bad cases, PREVENTABLE DISEASES OF CHILDREN make two or three applications within twenty-four or thirty-six hours. Take another hot bath twelve hours or so after the last application.

Thorough scrubbing and cleanliness go a long way toward effecting a cure.

To avoid reinfection put on clean clothes, particularly underclothing, and change sheets and blankets, particularly after the last soap and water bath. Deposit all infected clothing and bed linen in a standard disinfectant solution of carbolic acid (5 per cent), or formaldehyde (3 per cent), or boil in soap and water at least one hour.

Balsam of Peru is sometimes painted on pure, or mixed with an equal amount of glycerine. To make this mixture fill a bottle half full, heat by putting the bottle in moderately hot water and shake vigorously. Contagious Impetigo. This eruption first appears on the exposed surfaces of the body, particularly on the face, hands or wrists. It takes the form of a simple-looking pimple or pustule. This enlarges in size and the patch becomes covered by a brownish or yellowish crust. Other patches then appear caused by conveyance of the infection by the fingers or otherwise. Medical advice should be promptly taken. Contagious impetigo sometimes spreads rapidly in schools, but it can be readily cured by medical treatment.