THE OCCURRENCE IN THE PHILIPPINES OF ASSOCIATED 



SPIROCH^T^e AND FUSIFORM BACILLI IN ULCERS OF 



THE THROAT (VINCENT'S ANGINA), OF THE MOUTH, 



AND OF THE SKIN, AND IN LESIONS OF THE 



LUNGS (BRONCHIAL SPIROCH/ETOSIS).i 



By Weston P. Chamberlain." 

 {From the United States Army Board for the Study of Tropical Diseases.) 



In our quarterly report of March 31^ 1910,(1) we referred briefly to 

 the imding of several cases of the so-called Vincent's angina in the Phil- 

 ippines, and subsequentl}^ Bloombergh, ( 2 ) then a member of the Board, 

 reported more fully on the subject. Since that time we have been on 

 the lookout for the presence of A^incent's sjTnbiotic organisms in all 

 throat lesions coming to the notice of the Board and a large number of 

 cases have been detected. 



In 1894 Plaut(3) and in 1896 Vineent(4) called attention to a fusiform 

 bacillus, commonly associated with a spirillxim, in ulcerative lesions of the 

 throat, pharynx, and mouth. Since that time many writers have confirmed 

 these observations and the two organisms have been foimd in various other kinds 

 of lesions. Weaver and Tunnicliff ( 5 ) have demonstrated the organism in noma 

 and others have found them in ulcerative stomatitis, diphtheria, carious teeth, 

 hospital gangrene, appendicitis, brain abscess, foetid bronchitis, pyorrhoea alveo- 

 laris, and syphilitic lesions. Vincent, (10) Smith and Peil, (10) Bruce, (7) and 

 ourselves (8) have met with similar forms in ulcerations of the skin. Recently 

 Peters in Cincinnati has reported a case of fatal lobar pneumonia, a case of foetid 

 bronchitis and a ease of septic infection of the hand, in all 3 of which fusiform 

 bacilli and spirochaetse were present in large numbers in the exudate. In the 

 case of hand infection the affected member had been injured by the teeth of 

 another person. Hultgen(l2) reports a similar case of hand infection where the 

 patient had the nail-biting habit and the same organisms were found about the 

 teeth. 



Bacillus fusiformis of Plaut and Vincent is about 10 /j. in length, the limits 

 of size generally being set at 3 and 15 /u.. Occasionally much larger ones have 

 been seen by us. From the center the bacillus tapers toward the ends which are 



' Published with permission of the Chief Surgeon, Philippines Division. 



" Weston P. Chamberlain, major. Medical Corps, United States Army, president 

 of the United States Army Board for the Study of Tropical Diseases as they 

 Exist in the Philippine Islands. 



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