SPECIFIC THERAPY WITH BACTERIOPHAGE SUSPENSIONS 559 



employ it as a "stock bacteriophage," as is the case in the treatment 

 of the dysenteries. 



Gratia,^^^ at the hospital at Bruxelles, has treated some 50 cases of 

 different staphylococcus infections. At the beginning he injected the 

 suspension directly into the lesion, a procedure, in general, attended 

 with much pain. But from the first case of folHcuhtis treated, he saw 

 that this mode of procedure offered no advantages, and that the injec- 

 tion could be made in any portion of the body and give identical results. 



In cases of staphylococcus septicemia he used the intravenous route. 



The doses used varied from 0.5 to 3 cc, usually but one injection 

 being given. In certain cases two injections, — the maximum number, — ■ 

 were given with a 24 hour interval. 



He found that in certain cases the general reaction following the in- 

 jection passed unperceived, while in others, there was a transitory eleva- 

 tion of temperature. A strong general reaction, as a rule, followed in- 

 travenous administration. 



The local reaction consists in an erythematous induration at the 

 point of injection, accompanied with pain and pruritus. The inflamed 

 area may be as large as the palm of the hand, and the reaction may 

 persist for 24 to 36 hours. At the locus of the lesions a congestive re- 

 action is observed. In this"connection he mentions two very interesting 

 cases. 



A patient had a folliculitis of the left fore-arm, and also showed on 

 physical examination, the scar of an appendectomy done 4 months pre- 

 viously. Immediately after the injection of 1.5 cc. of bacteriophage 

 suspension subcutaneously in the arm the patient showed, not only a 

 local reaction at the point of inoculation and in the foci of the folhculitis, 

 but also an intense congestion in the operative cicatrix, which became 

 red, painful, and which 2 days later, ehminated two infected silk threads. 



The other case is that of a man who had suffered from a chronic fur- 

 unculosis for 15 years, and at the time of treatment had many small 

 furuncles upon different parts of the body. Immediately after the 

 injection of 1.5 cc. of the Staphylo-bacteriophage, given subcutaneously 

 in the left arm, he showed first the usual local reaction, and later, on 

 the next day, although in the meantime all of the furuncles had aborted, 

 an urticarial crisis, accompanied by a rise in temperature to 40°C. 

 The attack persisted throughout the night, and reappeared in an identi- 

 cal manner 4 days later, without any other disagreeable results. 



The conclusions of Gratia follow : 



.... we think that we may conclude that injections such as we have given 

 are inoffensive. They influence the evolution of folliculitis, furunculosis, an- 



