The Philippine 

 Journal of Science 



DIPHTHERIA CARRIERS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE IN 

 THE PHILIPPINES 



By Liborio Gomez and Regino Navarro 

 Of the Bureau of Science, Manila 



Previous papers have demonstrated the low incidence of 

 diphtheria among Filipinos, although it was also shown that 

 Filipino children are just as susceptible to diphtheria infection 

 as are the children of other races. 1 



The next step in the study of the local diphtheria situation 

 would be the study of the incidence of diphtheria carriers and 

 the significance of the bacilli harbored by them, which might 

 have a bearing on the low incidence of the disease, and such 

 data might prove valuable from the standpoint of public sani- 

 tation. With this object in view we have made careful cultural 

 studies of material obtained from the throats of about 1,775 

 healthy individuals to determine the prevalence of diphtheria 

 carriers in the Philippines, and animal tests have been per- 

 formed to determine the virulence of the different strains of 

 diphtheria bacilli isolated in pure culture. 



MATERIAL AND TECHNIC 



The search for carriers was started on account of a case of 

 clinical diphtheria that occurred in a pupil attending the Santa 

 Clara Public School, Manila. We examined 990 children of 

 various ages attending the Santa Clara Public School, many of 



uan, Axnando M.; and Gavino, Catalino^Diph- 

 2CU1922) 323. 



theria in the Philippine Islands, Philip. Journ. Sci. 17 (1920) 8T 

 x «.._.... xt t>^™. a nd Kapauan, Amando M., The Schick 



Liborio; Navarro, Regino 

 in Filipinos, Philip. Journ. 



