XVI 



TUBERCULIN THERAPY 



PROPHYLAXIS— THERAPEUTIC ADMINISTRATION OF TU- 

 BERCULIN—AVAILABLE PREPARATIONS— MODES OF 

 ADMINISTRATION AND DOSAGE— CONTROL OF TUBER- 

 CULIN TREATMENT— LIMITATIONS AND CONTRA-INDI- 

 CATIONS— INDICATIONS AND RESULTS 



Prophylawis. — Although the promises of Koch, 

 Behring, Maraghano, Arloing, Friedmann and others 

 have never measured up to their greatest expectation, 

 hope still exists in the breasts of investigators that the 

 future holds a specific for inoculation against tubercu- 

 losis. Indeed, there appear to be good reasons, both 

 experimentally and clinically, why this should be- 

 come a realization. Auto-immunization in human 

 beings is probably of common occurrence. This is 

 attested to by the prevalence of tuberculosis in child- 

 hood, and the fact that only 25 per cent, of patients 

 succumb to the disease, while in the remaining 75 per 

 cent, almost all exhibit evidence of healed tuberculous 

 foci. Thus it is logical, irrespective of the assertion 

 that tolerance to tuberculin probably never means the 

 production of true immunity in tuberculosis, that we 

 should reinforce our defensive forces, prophylactically 

 as well as therapeutically. Indeed, Hamburger, in 

 view of the frequent contraction of tuberculosis in 

 early childhood, advises immunization in infancy and 

 asserts that the proper administration of tuberculin at 



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