JOHN A. KOLMER mi 



sistance and recovery from experimental and natural bacterial diseases of human 

 beings and the lower animals, not so much by the actual stimulation of production of 

 humoral antibodies as by lowering the resistance of bacteria to phagocytosis, by the 

 production of leukocytosis, a febrile reaction, and other changes now so well known 

 clinically as the "non-specific protein reaction." 



COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY AND BIOLOGICAL THERAPY 



•This raises the question of the practical value of combining chemotherapy with 

 such biological therapy as the administration of immune sera, vaccines, non-specific 

 protein agents, and blood transfusion, in the treatment of bacterial diseases. All of my 

 clinical experience indicates that best results are to be obtained by the judicious use of 

 both kinds of therapy in the treatment of bacterial diseases, and especially the acute 

 infections. Chemoserotherapy, or the combination of chemotherapy with serum 

 therapy, has been before the medical profession for several years and is deserving of 

 the closest study and attention. 



After all, we are more interested in the recovery of our patient than in figuring 

 out in exact terms to what recovery may be ascribed, and I rarely depend upon 

 chemotherapy alone in the treatment of the acute bacterial diseases, but always in- 

 clude serum therapy, blood transfusion, or vaccine therapy when indicated. The 

 chemotherapy of bacterial diseases has not progressed by any means to the stage 

 where we can afford to neglect surgery, biological therapy, or any other helpful 

 therapeutic means for winning the battle with infection. For example, I rarely neglect 

 to use antistreptococcus serum in the treatment of acute streptococcus infections 

 with septicemia, along with gentian violet or mercurochrome. I am likewise very 

 partial to transfusions of blood, and especially in the treatment of long-continued and 

 exhaustive infections associated with anemia. Even the administration of vaccines 

 and non-specific agents may be of aid, not only because of their influence upon anti- 

 body production and immunological processes, but likewise because their administra- 

 tion may produce mild focal reactions about the diseased parts characterized by 

 hyperemia and serous exudation which may facilitate the penetration of a chemo- 

 therapeutic compound in the blood and prove generally useful when due care is 

 exercised in dosage to avoid excessive hyperemia and exudation. I also surmise that 

 judicious tuberculin administration to produce mild focal reactions of this kind may 

 ultimately prove a useful adjuvant to the chemotherapy of tuberculosis, since the 

 hyperemia and exudation may encourage the much-to-be-desired penetration of 

 tubercles by tuberculocidal chemical agents brought to the infected tissues by the 

 blood. 



ANILIN DYES IN THE CHEMOTHERAPY OF BACTERIAL DISEASES 



The anilin dyes have long held a place of primary interest and importance in the 

 chemotherapy of bacterial diseases, not only from the standpoint of displaying a direct 

 bactericidal activity themselves, but also as possible carriers of more potent sub- 

 stances to the protoplasm of the organisms. While we now know that mere staining 

 of bacteria does not necessarily indicate their death, yet the idea and hope of utilizing 

 dyestuffs for the disinfection of the tissues have been long entertained and interest in 

 the subject greatly renewed within recent years. 



