THE TREATMENT OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES 827 



The discovery, almost simultaneously by Flexner and Lewis 1 and 

 Landsteiner and Levaditi, 2 of the filterable nature of the microorganism, 

 or virus causing the disease, was quickly followed by Flexner and Lewis, * 

 observation that recovery from an attack of experimental poliomyelitis af- 

 forded protection to a second inoculation; and this, in turn, was followed 

 by the detection of immunity or neutralizing substances in the blood 

 serum first of recovered monkeys and then of recovered human beings 

 by Levaditi and Landsteiner, 4 Romer and Joseph, 5 Flexner and Lewis, 6 

 and Anderson and Frost. 7 Since recovery from an attack of poliomye- 

 litis was obviously brought about through a process of immunization 

 similar to that in other infectious diseases, Flexner and Lewis 8 endeav- 

 ored to prevent the development of the infection in inoculated monkeys 

 through the administration of blood-serum taken (a) from recovered 

 monkeys and (6) from recovered human beings. The results, while not 

 constant and regular, were definite. 



These experimental results were at once utilized as a basis of a serum 

 therapy in man by Netter and his associates, 9 who have reported a total 

 of 34 cases of acute poliomyelitis which they have treated by the sub- 

 dural method of injecting immune serum. They have undoubtedly 

 established the fact that, as in the monkey, subdural injections intel- 

 ligently carried out in man are safe. They believe, further, that they 

 have proved them to be definitely beneficial or curative. They become 

 increasingly convinced that the period of the disease at which the injec- 

 tions were made counted vitally, and they urged that the injections 

 should be made as early as possible in the course of the infection. Fur- 

 ther reports by Sophian, 10 Alfaro and Hitce, 11 Wells, 12 Le Boutillier, 13 

 Petty, 14 and Amoss and Chesney 15 indicate that serum taken from recently 

 recovered cases of poliomyelitis may be employed in its treatment and 

 probably yields the best results. The earlier in the course of the disease 

 the serum is employed in suitable doses, the more promise there is of bene- 

 fit. The action of the serum appears to be more precise and definite 

 in arresting paralysis than in rapidly bringing about its retrogression. 



1 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., 1909, liii, 2095. 



2 Compt. rend. Soc. biol., 1909, Ixvii, 592. 3 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., 1910, liv, 45. 

 4 Compt. rend. Soc. biol., 1910, Ixviii, 311. 5 Munch, med. Woch., 1910, Ivii, 568. 



6 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., 1910, liv, 1790. 



7 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., 1911, Ivi, 663. 



8 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., 1910, liv, 1780. 



9 Compt. rend. Soc. biol., 1911, Ixx, 625; Bull. Acad. m&L, 1915, Ixxiv, series 3, 

 403; Bull, et mem. Soc. m<d. hop., Paris, 1916, xl, series 3, 299. 



10 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., 1916, Ixvii, 426. " Semaine Med., 1915, xxii, 211. 



12 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., 1916, Ixvii, 1211. 13 Amer. Jour. Med. Sci., 1917. 

 14 New York Med. Jour., December 16, 1916. 15 Jour. Exper. Med., 1917, xxv, 581. 



