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1925
42
As far back as 1911, Schick published a paper in Germany
in which he described the test which is now known by his name.
The Schick test is used as a means of recognising susceptibility
to Diphtheria. A standardised toxin is injected into the skin of
the arm, and the re-action which follows, serves as guide to susceptibility
or non-susceptibility of the person tested for Diphtheria.
The test requires considerable care and experience in the interpretation
of the results, but the test has now gone beyond the
experimental stage, and in almost every instance the result
is a reliable indication of susceptibility.
The function of the Schick test is to disclose the fact of the
susceptibility or otherwise of an individual to diphtheria toxin
and therefore his susceptibility to the disease. It is thus applicable
for indicating which members of a community require to be
immunized if any danger of attack be present.
The importance of the test lies in the procedure which follows.
If the person is susceptible, he can be rendered actively immune
by means of inoculations of a standard toxin-anti-toxin mixture.
The term "active" immunity is used in contradistinction
to "passive" immunity which is conferred by the injection of
diphtheria anti-toxin serum. The latter kind of immunity is
frequently used by doctors when a case of Diphtheria occurs
in a family. The doctor injects the members of a family
who have been in contact with diphtheria, but who are not themselves
at the time suffering from the disease. This "passive"
immunity possibly only lasts a few weeks.
The injection of toxin-anti-toxin mixtures confers an active
immunity of the same nature as that conferred by an attack of
diphtheria and lasts for years, possibly for a lifetime.
The present wide interest in the use of toxin-anti-toxin
mixtures is due to the work of Dr. Park of New York and his
collaborators, in particular of Dr. Zingher.
In New York, the prevalence of diphtheria has been greater
and the mortality from the disease considerably higher than in this
country. Dr. Park has carried out the test in hundreds of thousands
of children, and the children in many schools have been immunized
by the toxin-antitoxin mixture.