Room Disinfection
DISINFECTING A ROOM.—It was formerly a matter of rou¬tine to disinfect, by fumigation, the rooms that had been oc¬cupied by patients having some form of communicable dis¬ease. It is now generally considered that such treatment is of little value. These diseases are most dangerous (most easily communicated to others) long before the period when fumiga- tion can be used. The room itself, with the clothes and other cloth materials in it, dust, books and other objects which the patient has handled, need be given little consideration.
With such things as dishes and the immediate bedclothes of the patient the case is different. The dishes should be boiled after each use and kept separately from those used by others in the household. The bedding and clothing of the patient (after such diseases as diphtheria, scarlet fever, meningitis, smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid fever and poliomyelitis or infantile paralysis) should be thoroughly disinfected by boil¬ing. The pillows and mattress likewise should be disinfected; but as this is sometimes difficult, many physicians insist upon their being burned. Thorough airing and sunning, for several days, however, should make them safe.