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63
Persons Suffering from Consumption can much improve their
own condition as well as prevent the spread of their disease to others
by the following precautions:
1. Phlegm or Expectoration.—Never spit on the floors while
indoors, nor in conveyances, nor on the streets while out of doors.
Use a spittoon with a little carbolised water in it while indoors,
and use a small portable glass spittoon while outdoor. If a portable
spittoon is not adopted spit over a gully rather than on the roadway,
and spit in either place rather than swallow it, or better, spit into
rags or tissue paper, which can be rolled up and burned on the first
opportunity before the sputum dries.
N.B.—On no account allow the sputum to dry in rags or paper.
2. Where the handkerchief is used or becomes soiled by expectoration,
it should be kept from drying until it is boiled, and thus
rendered harmless.
3. Spittoons or flasks should be emptied into the W.C. and then
thoroughly washed with boiling water.
4. Sleep alone in a well ventilated room, with as little furniture
therein or hangings about the bed as possible.
N.B.—Sunlight and Fresh Air are the greatest enemies of Consumption.
The bedroom window should always be kept open, except through
stress of weather, while dressing and undressing.
The walls of the bedroom should be periodically rubbed with
bread crumb, and the floor rubbed over with moist cloths every
morning. No dust should be allowed to accumulate.
Wet tea leaves come in handy for sprinkling over the floor and
capturing the microbes.
All dust should be burned, and never put in the dustbin, and all
cloths used for cleansing should be boiled. The room occupied by
a consumptive should be disinfected periodically. Application to
the Lady Inspector, or the Medical Officer of Health, will ensure
this.
5. The bed clothes and linen should be kept scrupulously clean
and boiled before washing.