204 



HUMAN INTESTINAL PROTOZOA IN THE NEAR EAST 



CASE DOWNS, J., aged 21. Patient, who had never been abroad before, left England on 

 April 2, 1916, and came direct to Egypt, where he arrived on April 12. On May 21, during the 

 routine examination of the Eoyal Army Medical Corps Staff at Mustapha Camp, he was found 

 to be a carrier of E. histolytica. He had not had dysentery but had had a severe attack of 

 diarrhoea a fortnight after arrival in Egypt. The patient's stool was examined on three occasions 

 during the four days preceding May 21, with negative results as regards E. histolytica. Patient 

 was kept under observation till May 30, and was then given a 12-day course of emetin 

 (one grain injection every morning and | grain in keratin-coated tabloid each evening). 

 During treatment he was kept in bed on milk diet. There was no vomiting. The 

 E. histolytica infection disappeared after the second day of treatment and did not 

 recur during a control of over one month, three weeks of which patient spent in the 

 convalescent camp on light duty. The emetin treatment had no effect on the patient's 

 temperature or pulse-rate. An E. coli infection which was also present did not reappear 

 after the treatment. 



CASE HOLLOW, F., aged 23. Patient, who had never been abroad before, left England in 

 June, 1915, and went direct to the Peninsula, where he had dysentery and was given 

 14 injections of emetin. He was invalided to Malta towards the end of December and there 

 again developed dysentery, for which he was given a second course of 14 emetin injections. 

 He came to Egypt in March, 1916, where, during the routine examination of the Eoyal Army 

 Medical Corps Staff at Mustapha Camp, on May 16, he was found to be passing a stool containing 

 blood and mucus and had a large infection of amoebae, many of which contained red blood 

 corpuscles. Trichomonas w r as also present. Patient was kept under observation till May 30, 

 and was then given a 12-day course of emetin (one grain injection in the morning and 

 J grain in keratin-coated tabloid by the mouth at night). During the treatment he was kept in 

 bed on milk diet. The emetin caused no vomiting. The amoebae disappeared after the second 

 day of treatment and did not recur during a control of over one month, three weeks of which 

 patient spent in the convalescent camp on light duty. The emetin course had no effect on the 

 patient's temperature or pulse-rate. The case is of interest as no cysts of E. histolytica were 



