STREPTOCOCCUS HEMOLYTICUS: A CASE STUDY 
By First Lieut. HARRY G. JOHNSON 
Medical Corps, United States Army 
The following case is reported in order to record a few of the 
manifestations of the streptococcus hemolyticus. I am submit- 
ting this for your approval or disapproval, at the suggestion 
of my senior officers. I hope it will carry a little of interest. 
It has no claim whatsoever to any scientific value. 
The case is that of a man about 30 years of age, a Serbian by 
birth, and said to have been at one time an officer in the Medical 
Corps of the Serbian army. He had been under the care of the 
psychiatric service for some time as a case of dementia praecox, 
having the usual manifestations of negativism, necessitating at 
times tube feeding. 
At the time this case entered the medical wards, we had been 
having an epidemic of diphtheria and streptococcic sore throat; 
so it was the rule to have a morning and afternoon routine 
examination of the throats of all psychiatric patients. This 
case was discovered to have a suspicious throat and had been 
immediately transferred to the medical service. The family 
and past history have no bearing on the case from the stand- 
point under consideration. 
The physical examination at the time of admittance revealed. 
a poorly nourished man, uncodperative, and in a semiconscious 
state. The temperature, as recorded, was 102°; pulse, 90; 
respirations, 20. Head, negative; pupils, equal and reacting; | 
chest, clear; and abdomen, negative. The genitourinary tract 
was apparently normal. Rectum revealed no hemorrhoids or 
other disease. The reflexes were present but sluggish. The 
patient had no skin abrasions. Examination of the mouth and 
nasopharynx showed the teeth to be in poor condition, the 
pharyngeal wall hyperzemic and cedematous, the uvula injected 
and both tonsils swollen. The tonsils and a small part of the 
posterior pillar of the right tonsil were covered with a thin, 
translucent, grayish membrane, which wiped off readily and 
did not bleed. 
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