Researches on the bacteriological diagnosis of cholera carried out by medical officers of the Sanitary, Maritime and Quarantine Council of Egypt / under the direction of Marc Armand Ruffer, President of the Council.

Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Researches on the bacteriological diagnosis of cholera carried out by medical officers of the Sanitary, Maritime and Quarantine Council of Egypt / under the direction of Marc Armand Ruffer, President of the Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    animals also; e.g. monkeys', may be prepared at will. The 1 therefore specific under certain conditions only ; conditioi defined, but nevertheless existant. Similarly, typhoid serum agglutinates, less actively it is paratyphoid bacilli also. The agglutination test therefore, is relatively, but not absolutely specific. Further, it is unusual to rely on one or two characteristics 01 the classification of plants and animals. In every classification, < characteristic should be taken into consideration and its po: value weighed. A comparison of the vibrios found at El Tor in cases of dyse with those of the specific vibrios of cholera, shows that although are equally affected by the agglutination, Pfeiffer's and satui tests, they react differently to the haemolysis and fixation tests, reactions appear to me as important as the former. All the El Tor vibrios haemolyse under certain conditions all the vibrios isolated from cases of cholera and agglutinating cholera serum, do not. This fact, in my opinion, is a sufficient n for classing the El Tor and the cholera vibrios into two distinct gr< It has been urged, however, that haemolytic vibrios agglutin with cholera serum have been isolated from cholera stools, an conclusion drawn that the true cholera vibrio may occasional haemolytic. The fact is correct, but the conclusion would be only if typical cholera stools contained but one kind of vibrio the East at any rate, this is far from being, and many case cholera are cases of mixed « vibrionic» infection. In many stoo one finds not one but several comma-shaped bacilli, some agj nating with cholera serum and others not, some monociliated, oi multiciliated etc. It is possible, nay likely, that in some cases the cholera and the El Tor vibrios exist in the same stool. In this connection I may state that some years ago, I wrote distinguished bacteriologist, who was watching an epidemic of ch< in the East, to send me cultures isolated from cholera stools. 1 cultures of vibrios were sent, of which onlyone agglutinated Berlin serum. The three others although monociliated did agglutinate but were intensely haemolytic. I quote this fact to show how very complicated the bacteriological examination . cholera stool is in reality.