VACCINE TREATMENT IN THE PREVENTION OF DYSEN- 

 TERY IN INFANTS 



WILLIAM PALMER LUCAS, M. D.f and HAROLD L. AMOSS, M. D.* 



fFrom the Out-patient Department of the Infant's Hospital, and 

 *From the Department of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene, Harvard Medical 

 School. 



This work was undertaken during the summer of 1910 to find 

 out, if possible, whether vaccine treatment in the dysentery of 

 infants would have any effect on either the morbidity or the mor- 

 tality of this condition. The months chosen for this work were 

 July, August and the early part of September. During these 

 months by far the greatest number of cases of infantile dysentery 

 occur in this country. The difficulties of controlling such cases in 

 giving the vaccine treatment and getting the specimens for bac- 

 teriological examinations can easily be understood. 



All the cases vaccinated were under two years of age and 

 clinically showed no signs of dysentery or of any very acute 

 gastro-intestinal disorders. The vaccine was not administered 

 in any case having a temperature above 38C. In as many cases 

 as it was possible specimens of the stools in the treated cases were 

 obtained for bacteriological examination and an equal number of 

 control cases were followed bacteriologically and clinically. In 

 this way it was hoped that some conclusion could be reached 

 which would represent the value of this work carried out under 

 the prevailing conditions. 



HISTORICAL 



The history of preventive vaccination against dysentery dates 

 back to 1898, when Shiga 1 tried the sub-cutaneous injection of 

 small amounts of killed cultures of the B. dysenteriae 

 (Shiga). This method produced such marked general and 

 local reactions that he abandoned it in favor of a com- 

 bination of killed cultures and a specific serum injected 

 simultaneously. From 1898 to 1900 2 he vaccinated 10,000 Jap- 

 anese in this way. These first injections were followed three or 

 four days later by a dose of vaccine twice as large but with no 

 specific serum. His results at this time showed no diminution in 



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