SPECIAL SERUM THERAPY. 2OI 



Occasionally the author started with the serum treatment, and then combined with it 

 the tuberculin administration and finally left the serum away entirely. 



6. Anthrax Sera. Sclavo, Deutsh, Sobernheim and others have produced immune 

 sera by the immunization of donkeys, sheep and horses. These have been mainly em- 

 ployed in veterinary practice. 



In man the serum has been tried only by Sclavo. He injects 30 to 40 c.c. subcutan- 

 eously for several successive days; in severe infections 10 c.c. are administered intra- 

 venously. Two cases described by Bandi received 150 c.c. intravenously. 



7. Typhoid Immune Sera. The ordinary bacteriolytic sera (Tavel) have not met with 

 the desired success in the therapy of typhoid fever. Attempts have, therefore, been made 

 to produce antiendotoxic sera. Chantemesse treats horses for several years with bouillon 

 filtrates; Besredka injects first dead and then living typhoid bacteria from agar cultures, 

 Mac Fadyen breaks up the bacteria at very low temperatures and thus liberates the endo- 

 toxin for purposes of immunization. Kraus and von Stenitzer use bouillon filtrates and 

 aqueous bacterial extracts as is likewise done by Meyer-Bergell and Aronson. Garbat 

 and Meyer employ sensitized typhoid bacilli, i.e., bacteria united with their bacteriolytic 

 amboceptors. 



Chantemesse injects several drops of his serum subcutaneously. The action lasts ten 

 days. Only occasionally is a second inoculation necessary; if so, it must be much smaller. 

 His results have been good and have mainly depended upon an increase in the opsonic 

 index. 



Meyer and Bergell as well as Kraus give 20 to 50 c.c. subcutaneously. 



8. Cholera Serum. Similar attempts for the production of a cholera antiendotoxic 

 serum have been made. Kraus has succeeded in obtaining an antitoxin against some 

 El-Tor vibrios which have all the characteristics of true cholera vibrios. 



The experiments with Kraus' serum, and Kolle's serum (Bern Institute), at present 

 being conducted in Russia, seem to be favorable. 



The serum therapy of infectious diseases is still in its primitive stages. 

 The contradictory results of many authors are to be associated not only 

 with the variable efficiency of the sera, but also with the method, the time, 

 and the dose chosen for administration. 



The same serum in the hands of different physicians may yield opposite 

 results. These subjective sources of error must be overcome, or minimized 

 by making a complete and thorough study of the effects which a certain 

 serum may have and actually does have; here all the clinical and laboratory 

 guides must be made use of. Employed in this manner, serum therapy 

 will even at the present stage lead to beneficial results. 



Wright's motto at the beginning of his book on vaccines "The physician 

 of the future will be an immunisator," can justly be reversed to read, "the 

 immunisator of the future will be a physician." 



