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CHAPTER XLIV 



DIPHTHERIA, 



SCARLET FEVER, 



AND TETANUS 



Tetanus bacilli. 



Diphtheria bacilli. 



Can diphtheria be completely eradicated? Is there any protection 

 against scarlet fever ? What is the relation of tetanus to wounds ? 



Three diseases that are somewhat similar in their methods of 

 attacking the body are diphtheria, scarlet fever, and tetanus. 



History of diphtheria. Fairly accurate descriptions of diph- 

 theria have been given by certain ancient Greeks. There is evi- 

 dence that the disease has been known for many centuries. In 

 1826, a scientist in France was the first to look upon diphtheria as 

 a specific and infectious disease that was frequently spread by 

 the use of a common drinking cup. He said that croup was a 

 type of diphtheria, and he differentiated the disease from the 

 sore throat of scarlet fever. 



Isolation of organism. Klebs, in Germany, in 1883, discovered 

 bacilli, striped with bars or bands, in the throat of children sick 

 with diphtheria. In 1884, some banded bacilli were isolated and 

 stained with methylene blue by Emil Loeffler, who thought that 

 they could not be the causative organisms of diphtheria. He 

 was confused by the fact that some perfectly well children had 

 these bacilli in their throats and some children who were ill with 

 what seemed to be diphtheria did not have the germs. Loeffler 

 grew the banded bacilli on broth and injected them under the 

 skin of guinea pigs. The pigs died, although the bacilli did not 

 spread, but stayed at the point of entrance below the skin. 



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