PUERPERAL

FEVER (

See also:

• LAT

Lat. puerpera, from Auer,

See also:

• CHILD
• CHILD, FRANCIS JAMES (1825-1896)
• CHILD, L
• CHILD, LYDIA MARIA (1802-1880)
• CHILD, SIR FRANCIS (1642-1713)
• CHILD, SIR JOHN (d. 1690)
• CHILD, SIR JOSIAH (163o - 1699)

child, and parcre, to bring forth)  , the name given to the varieties of general infection, long regarded as a specific disease (" child-bed fever," " lying-in fever "), to which women are subject after parturition, owing to the genital tract being peculiarly exposed, in septic surroundings, to the invasion of pathogenic bacteria (see SEPSIS) . Owing largely to the labours of I . P . Semmelweiss (q.v.) the grave mortality formerly attending this condition has been enormously reduced; and the necessity of rigid cleanliness in the treatment of lying-in cases is fully recognized . When unhappily this is not the case, and infection takes place, its complications must be treated according to the circumstances, antiseptic douching being employed, or preferably curetting the endometrium with a sharp curette and swabbing with disinfectant solution . In definitely septicaemia cases antistreptococcic serum may be useful .