Volume 176 - Issue 4
Books as carriers of disease
Author: Sir Keith Jones
Med J Aust 2002; 176 (4): 196. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2002.tb04368.x
Published online: 18 February 2002
Published online: 18 February 2002
To the Editor: With respect to the article by Ferson in the Christmas issue of the Journal, a personal experience of an unwanted side effect which occurred in 1927 may be of interest.
I was a boarder at school, and four weeks before sitting for the Leaving Certificate examination I contracted a violent sore throat associated with a bodywide erythema similar to sunburn, but without any associated burning sensation. The doctor had no hesitation in diagnosing scarlet fever, and I was transferred to the Coast (now Prince Henry) Hospital, which was the infectious diseases hospital for leprosy, scarlet fever, diphtheria and the like.
I had asked if I could take my textbooks to the hospital, but was told that if I did they would be destroyed when I was discharged. I left the books at school, spent four weeks in isolation and returned to school with one weekend to prepare for the examinations — the results were quite disappointing!