Volume 4

Reports of the commission appointed by the Admiralty, the War Office, and the civil government of Malta, for the Investigation of Mediterranean Fever / under the supervision of an Advisory Committee of the Royal Society.

Date:
1905-1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Reports of the commission appointed by the Admiralty, the War Office, and the civil government of Malta, for the Investigation of Mediterranean Fever / under the supervision of an Advisory Committee of the Royal Society. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    The Micrococcus laelitmds was isohited from the mosquito on September 15 and svib-cultured on Septeniljer 19, On September 24 an emulsion of the growth ou an agar shjpe was injected suhcutaneously into Monkey No. 101. A well-marked wave of fever resulted. On the sixth day after the injection the blood serum gave a complete reaction in a dilution of 1/10, and the temperature rose to 106'-8. On October 15 the temperature fell to the normal level, but a few days later an irregular secondary wave of fever set in and the agglutination reaction increased. On October 22 the working dilution of serum was 1/50, and on the 29th 1/300. On Novemlier 12 the monkey was killed with chloroform. The blood serum, tested just before death, was found, when diluted 1/1000, to cause immediate agglutination of t\iQ Micro- coccus melitensis. The microbe was recovered in great profusion from the spleen and lymphatic glands, in less quantity from the liver, and very sparsely from the kidney. Each of six broth tubes, inoculated with 0'5 c.c. of blood from the heart, was found to contain the micrococcus. This monkey was also used for experiments on the conveyance of infection by mosquitoes. liemarks.—The marked wave of fever, strong blood reaction, and the presence of the Micrococcus imlit&nsis in the blood and all the viscera show that the culture isolated from the Stcgomyia fasciata was very virulent. The chart (p. 77) shows the Avave of fever during the experiment. Part III.—To determine whether CuIcx pipiens and Stegomyia fasciata CAN CONVEY the Infection of Mediterranean Fever FROM Monkey to Man, :Man to :Monkey, and Monkey to Monkey. Conveyance of Infection from Monkey to Man. This experiment was not designed, but occurred in the following manner. On October 1 Monkey No. 6, infected by feeding, was being examined (by H.) in the verandah of the Lazaretto. Carlo Mifsud, the attendant in the Lazaretto, suddeidy pointed to a mosquito, full of blood, resting on the table, and said, that mosquito has just bitten me and I could not brush it away without letting go the Monkey. The mosquito was at once captured and dissected, with the results already detailed mider the first recovery of the Micrococcus melitensvi from Cukx pipiens. On the day the m(fsquito was captured Carlo's blood was care- fully examined, but no reaction with the Micrococcus melitensis was obtained. His temperature was also taken and found to be perfectly normal. The l)oy declared that he was perfectly well, and was much amused by the examination to which he was subjected. On October 11