Diseases of the mouth : for physicians, dentists, medical and dental students / Tr. and edited by John Bethune Stein.

  • Zinsser, Ferdinand, 1865-
Date:
[1912]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Diseases of the mouth : for physicians, dentists, medical and dental students / Tr. and edited by John Bethune Stein. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ered by Jules Bordet and Octave Gengou, in 1901. Widal calls it the “reaction of fixation.”—-Tr.] The non-syphilitic gives, with very few exceptions, a nega- tive reaction. The reaction may be positive in the fol- lowing diseases, viz.: (1) in leprosy and some trop- ical diseases, (2) in the last stages of tuberculosis and carcinoma, (3) during the febrile movement of some systemic diseases. Scarlatina occasionally gives a positive reaction, which does not last long. All these diseases are easy to differentiate from syphilis, or do not occur among us. In manifest syphilis the reac- tion is almost always positive. The reaction is usu- ally not positive until the seventh week after the ap- pearance of the chancre, although it has been found positive four to six weeks after the infection. With the occurrence of the general manifestations the re- action becomes positive in 95 per cent. of the cases. In tertiary syphilis the reaction is positive in 80 per cent. of the cases. From the reaction, especially if it be positive, conclusions can be drawn for diag- nosis. In long-standing latent syphilis the number of positive reactions are much fewer. Latent syphi- lis often gives a weak reaction; 30 per cent. incom- plete, 20 per cent. positive, and 50 per cent. negative. Untreated cases of latent syphilis are more likely to give a positive reaction than well-treated cases where the reaction when positive is weak. Time and expe- rience will show the value of the reaction in long- standing latent syphilis. Are cases of long-standing latent syphilis giving a negative reaction cured? Are those giving a positive reaction uncured? Is the positive reaction in such cases a sign of complete im- munity following the disease? The positive reac- tion indicates the necessity for continuation of treat- ment. The serum of the patient should be examined at frequent intervals during the course of whatever treatment is employed, in order to ascertain how the treatment affects an important symptom of the dis- ease, viz.: the deflection of the complement. The