Diet in Infectious Diseases.—­Foods that can be used:  Milk, milk-water, milk and lime-water, Mellin’s food, malted milk, imperial granum, albumin water, rice water, oatmeal water, barley water, egg (white part), and barley water, arrowroot water, whey, whey and cream mixture, cream and rice mixture, beef tea, beef extract, mutton broth, beef juice.  Chewing broiled steak and only swallowing the juice, dry toast and soft boiled eggs, milk toast, dried beef broth, soups, rice, cornstarch, tapioca, etc.  The diet must not consist of solid food in any severe case of fever.  Small quantities of cold drinks can be given, frequently repeated if there is no vomiting.  Frequent washing with tepid water or cool water lessens the fever and produces sleep.  The bowels should be kept open at least once a day, and castor oil or salts usually can be given. (See Nursing and Dietetics department.)

Table of Infectious Diseases. 
                                     Date of
                                     characteristic Whole
                 Incubation lasts symptom. duration. 
Mumps 7 to 20 days 1st day 7 days or less
Whooping Cough 2 to 7 days 7 to 14 days 2 months
Diphtheria 1 to 12 days 1 to 2 days 1 week to 1 month
Erysipelas 2 to 8 days 1 to 2 days 1 week to 3 weeks
Varioloid 10 to 13 days 1 day 1 week to 3 weeks
Chicken Pox 12 to 17 days 1 day 4 to 7 days
German Measles 1 to 3 weeks 1 day 3 to 4 days
Measles 12 to 14 days 4 days 7 to 9 days
Scarlet Fever 1 to 7 days 1 to 2 days 7 to 12 days
Typhoid Fever 1 to 14 days 7 to 8 days 3 to 5 weeks
Smallpox 10 to 14 days 3 to 4 days 2 to 4 weeks

Scarlet fever.  Definition.—­Scarlet fever is an acute infectious disease, with a characteristic eruption.

Modes of Conveying.—­The nearer a person is to a patient the more likely one is to take or convey the disease.  Clothing, bedding, etc., may retain the poison for months.  Scales from the skin of a patient, dried secretions, the urine if inflammation of the kidneys (nephritis) exists, the discharges (feces) from the bowels, are all means of infection.  The longer a person remains near the patient the more likely he is to convey the disease.  Foods handled by those sick of the disease, or by those who may have been near patients may convey the disease.  This is especially true of milk.  Epidemics of scarlet fever have been started by dairy-men who had scarlet fever in their family.  I once attended a family where the only known cause for it in that family was a long-haired dog of a neighbor who had scarlet fever in the family.  The dog was in the room with the sick ones, and visited the neighbor’s family and played with the children who afterwards came down with the fever.  Discharges from the ear, caused by scarlet fever, are said to be capable of giving it.