Bacteriological and clinical studies of the diarrheal diseases of infancy : with reference to the bacillus dysenteriæ (shiga) from the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research / edited by Simon Flexner and L. Emmett Holt.

Date:
1904
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Bacteriological and clinical studies of the diarrheal diseases of infancy : with reference to the bacillus dysenteriæ (shiga) from the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research / edited by Simon Flexner and L. Emmett Holt. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    Type of Infection.—Of the 45 cases, in 12 the symptoms were those of a severe infection; in 9 it was only moderate. The number and character of stools, the amount of fever and the prostration, were con- sidered as an index of the type of the infection. In 24 cases the symptoms were very mild; there being practically no fever or prostration and the stools never being more than 6 or 8 in number, and though thin with more or less mucus, never containing blood. Although, as we have seen, the prognosis is greatly modified by the age of the child and its general nutrition, it is not so easy to bring out the relation between the prognosis and the severity of the infection. Here we have also to consider the individual resistance of the living organism to disease. The prognosis is also affected by the presence of other disease. Thus in 22 of the 45 children, at the time of the dis- covery of the B. dysenteries in the dejecta, 8 were suffering from marasmus, 4 from bronchitis, 3 from broncho-penumonia, 2 from lobar pneumonia, 2 from acute gastritis, 1 from impetigo contagiosa, 1 from syphilis, and 1 from syphilis and nephritis. Previous Diet.—Of the total number of cases, 25 had been fed cow's milk, 7 condensed milk, 6 were breast-fed and 2 were taking table food. The remaining 5 children had been fed cow's milk and different proprietary foods. Of the.6 breast-fed cases, 2 were fatal; one was a twin 4 months old weighing only 6 pounds, who died in March with mild intestinal symptoms. The other was a terminal infection of moderate severity in a child 5 months old, weighing 12 pounds and suffering from heredi- tary syphilis. This child died in July. Two of the breast-fed children had severe infections in hot weather and recovered. Two breast-fed children, both well nourished, had mild infections in March and October, and both recovered. With the exception of the breast-fed cases, most of the children had been badly fed, and all the proper rules in regard to the care of the food and general hygiene had been disregarded. All the children had been given unboiled water from the tap. Previous Illness.—One case only of the entire series gave a definite history of severe diarrhea, which was three months before admission to the hospital. The second attack was, however, of moderate se- verity. In 2 cases pneumonia and in 1 case measles had directly preceded the dysentery. In 3 cases the stools were simply said to be frequent previous to admission. Four gave a history of mild diar- rhea; and ten gave a history of severe diarrhea, i.e., 7 to 12 stools in