View report page

53
made with the Jenner Institute to report 011 the samples sent to
them as to the presence of the diphtheria organism.
Fifty-two examinations were made in respect of samples sent
from 44 patients, the difference representing second examinations
to ascertain if the organism had disappeared from the throat :—
In 16 instances the bacillus was found.
In 34 instances the bacillus was not found.
In 2 instances the pseudo-diphtheria bacillus was found.*
Diphtheria is at present one of the most important diseases with
which we have to deal. It affects a considerable number of persons,
and has a considerable, though happily a declining, mortality. It is
frequently difficult to detect, partly because other organisms may
produce membrane in the throat, but more often because it is
present in the throat without producing membrane, only causing
slight sore throat from time to time. Then, again, in some cases it
is extremely difficult to get rid of it, and a person who has recovered
from an attack may still have the organism persisting in the noso
and throat for weeks and even months, and be able to communicate
it to others. It is due to this persistence that the prevalence of the
disease is maintained. A child apparently well goes back to school,
and soon other cases crop up. It ought to be clearly understood
that diphtheria is a disease which is almost, if not entirely, spread by
personal infection, and it would be well if we could insist that no
child who had been suffering from diphtheria should be allowed to
return to school without a certificate that the throat was free from
the organism of the disease. Fortunately in a large proportion of
the cases prompt treatment lias been able to get rid of the organism
within a very few days, and it is to this fact I attribute the report
sometimes sent by the Metropolitan Asylums Board Officers that the
patient on admission to hospital has been found not to be suffering
from diphtheria, although previous to notification a bacteriologic
examination showed the bacillus to be present. During times ot
epidemic prevalence, or when a case has occurred in a school, it
would be well if all the children's throats were examined, as it has
* The pseudo-diphtheria bacillus is an organism occurring in the throat in some
cases of mild angina. It resembles the true diphtheria bacillus in some points, but
differs from it in others, notably in being non-virulent to animals, e.g., the guinea-pig.
Various views are held as to the relation of this organism to the true diphtheria
bacillus; at the Jenner Institute it is provisionally regarded as a non-virulent form
of the diphtheria bacillus. Cases in which the pseudo-diphtheria bacillus occur
are usually mild, do not require anti-toxin, end in recovery, and are not followed by
sequelae. It is desirable to isolate cases from susceptible individuals, though it would
be preferable not to admit into a diphtheria ward.