The application of precautionary measures designed to prevent secondary infections among an organized group, such as the patients in a hospital ward, has resulted in the control, in large measure, of enteric infections and a decrease in the incidence of contagious diseases to such a point that they present little menace. Certain types of infections, notably acute disorders of the respiratory tract, however, have continued to occur in sizable numbers.
The studies which have been made in the Infants' Hospital of Boston have been carried out in an effort to determine to what extent infections continue to occur in a modern, cubicled infants' ward and to ascertain, if possible, what additions to current technic might be necessary for the control of secondary infections, especially those of the respiratory tract.
A survey of the records of the Infants' Hospital for 1935 and 1936 showed that 185, or 12.6 per cent, of