Diphtheria / by William P. Northrup ; measles, scarlatina, German measles / by Theodor von Jürgensen ; ed., with additions by William P. Northrup ; authorized translation from the German, under the editorial supervision of Alfred Stengel.

  • Northrup, William P. (William Percy), 1851-
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Diphtheria / by William P. Northrup ; measles, scarlatina, German measles / by Theodor von Jürgensen ; ed., with additions by William P. Northrup ; authorized translation from the German, under the editorial supervision of Alfred Stengel. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of cases, but this would readily be accounted for by the conditions under which these people live—crowded dwellings, insufficient room, and filth. Walsh,* from a study of diphtheria cases occurring in Washington, believes that the colored race shows a certain immunity to the disease. fn 1895-1896 diphtheria occurred in 4.43% of 10,000 negroes to 15.25% of 10,000 whites. CONSTITUTION* That certain catarrhal conditions of the upper air-passages—ade- noids, enlarged tonsils, etc.—form a suitable medium for the growth of the L()ffler bacillus has been shown by many observers. The fre- quent occurrence of dij)htheria during the course of certain exanthem- ata which are es])ecially characterized by catarrh of the air-passages (measles) is well known. The so-called “scrofulous habit,” with tendency to enlarged lynqdiatics about the neck, has been shown to predispose to the disease, finally, it is undoubtedly true that the disease shows a dis])osition to occur in certain families—a fact which may logically be attributed to the family disposition to the catarrhal conditions just mentioned. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that certain people, children and adults, show a greater or less immu- nity. This has been shown to exist especially in nursing children. Lubowski and other observers have recently shown that the blood of such persons possesses a decided antitoxic property. BACTERIOLOGY* Klebs, in 1883, reported the discovery of a bacillus constantly found in the pseudomembranes of the diphtheria patients. The follow- ing year, Loflfer t isolated these bacilli in pure culture, and by inocu- lating them on the mucous membranes of animals reproduced pseudo- membranes. He also studied the effects and postmortem lesions which followed injections of these bacilli. Ldffler, however, was un- able to state positively that these organisms were the specific cause of diphtheria, and chiefly for the reason that he did not at first observe the occurrence of paralysis in the inoculated animals. Roux and Yersin % were able to establish this specificity beyond a doubt, and noted, furthermore, the occurrence of paralysis. These * N. Y. Med. Jour., Jan., 1898. t “ Mittheil. aii.s dem Kaiserl. Gesimdheitsamte,” vol. ii, 1884. t ''Ann. de I’lnstitut Pasteur,” 1888-1889.