This form usually follows the prolonged use of condensed milk,
sterilized milk or proprietary foods for children. The disease occurs
during the first two years of life, but it is most common from the
seventh to the fourteenth month.
It develops rapidly. Joint pains, anemia and irritability are early
symptoms. The child is pale, has a muddy complexion and may show signs
of rickets. The gums may be soft and spongy. There is tenderness and
pain on motion. There may be hemorrhages under the skin. The lower
limbs are drawn up and motionless. The bones become thickened from
sub-periosteal hemorrhage, and there is apt to be softening between the
shaft and epiphysis. The back and legs become very weak. The lesions
are usually symmetrical. The temperature is variable.
=Treatment.=—The treatment of scurvy in children consists in, first,
omitting all proprietary foods and substituting fresh cow’s milk, meat
juice, strained gruel and a moderate quantity of fresh orange or lemon
juice. Under this treatment, cases that have not progressed too far
will promptly recover.
Northrop says: “It is a significant fact that the country which
furnishes most of the literature on scorbutus in children is the same
which is posted from end to end with advertisements of proprietary
foods.”