View report page

82
1897
among the home cases, must not be taken as indicating that the
treatment or nursing is better at home, for the reverse is the case,
except of course in the homes of the wealthy where the best nursing
skill is nearly always available.
In consequence of the great reduction in the general fatality from
the disease the question arises. What is the cause ?
One would naturally be desirous to trace it to the new antitoxin
treatment, if one could; but in the face of the fact that while this
treatment is very general in hospitals, where without doubt it has
had good results, yet it has not become so general among private
practitioners as to account for the great decrease in the fatality among
the home patients. One is, therefore, forced to the conclusion that
the type of the disease was not so malignant as in the preceding six
years; another explanation may be that parents are becoming more
aware that it is very necessary, if life is to be saved, to have the cases
treated at the very earliest moment, as there is possibly no disease
where treatment in its earliest stages is so essential, especially if the
antitoxin serum is to be prescribed.