Infection, immunity and serum therapy : in relation to the infectious diseases which attack man; with considerations of the allied subjects of agglutination, precipitation, hemolysis, etc. / by H. T. Ricketts.

  • Ricketts, Howard Taylor, 1871-1910.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Infection, immunity and serum therapy : in relation to the infectious diseases which attack man; with considerations of the allied subjects of agglutination, precipitation, hemolysis, etc. / by H. T. Ricketts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    This principle, that in the acquiring of immunity to a microbic infection the serum of an individual gains in agglutinating power for the micro-organ- ism, has been found to hold true in many infec- tions. Consequently, if one has in hand the speci- fic micro-organism for a disease, he would expect the serum of a patient sick of this disease to have a stronger agglutinating power for this micro-or- ganism than for others which were accidentally present; and this power would also be greater than that possessed by the serum of one who had not had this particular disease. In spite of some pos- sibilities of error the agglutination test has been of distinct value in the recognition of the specific micro-organisms in certain diseases, as in the case of the germ of epidemic dysentery (Shiga). obsSachs All Koch's laws have not been complied with in to Koch s x Laws, certain cases, because of various difficulties which have been encountered. First, the patho- genic protozoa can not be cultivated on artificial media (we must except the success of ISTovy and- MclSTeal with certain trypanosomas, and of Strong with the ameba coli under symbiotic conditions) ; second, certain bacteria which may be found con- stantly in a given disease have not been cultivated artificially (spirillum of recurrent fever) ; third, there are a few diseases which are peculiar to man and accordingly can not be reproduced in experi- ment animals (leprosy, influenza, scarlet fever, measles, etc.) ; fourth, some infectious agents are pathogenic for experiment animals, but do not reproduce in them a clinical or anatomic condition identical with that found in the original animal (typhoid). Furthermore, failure to comply with all the re-