A SERIES OF CASES OF TROPICAL INFANTILE DYSENTERY 



WITH A HITHERTO UNDESCRIBED BACILLUS AS THE 



CAUSATIVE FACTOR. 



[Preliminary report.] 



By Feed B. Bowman. 

 (From the Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I.) 



During the latter part of July and the month of August, 1907, quite a 

 severe epidemic of infantile dysentery prevailed in and around Manila, 

 and the following observations were made upon a series of eases from- 

 the private practice of Dr. Musgrave. It was evident, judging from the 

 suddenness of onset, the severity of the attack and the extremely long 

 period of convalescence in some instances, that we were dealing with a 

 severe infection caused by some pathogenic intestinal organism, probably 

 the Shiga bacillus itself or one of the many varieties of B. dysenterice. It 

 was consequently deemed of importance accurately to study this epidemic 

 and therefore I secured as much material as possible. 



In all cases fecal matter was obtained either in a sterile dish or on 

 a square of sterile gauze, and the specimen were transferred to the labor- 

 atory as quickly as possible for examination. A brief history of each 

 case follows, with an outline of the technical procedure adopted in 

 isolating the organism. 



Case I. — Infant 8. 



Severe, acute dysentery with recovery. — A strong, well-developed infant, weigh- 

 ing Si pounds at birth and 19 pounds at 9 months of age. It was breast fed 

 during the first four months and mixed feeding was resorted to until the end of 

 the seventh month. For two months before the attack of dysentery the child was 

 fed entirely on artificial food which consisted of a percentage modification of milk 

 and cream with a small amount of fruit juice once daily. The infant's growth 

 and development were entirely satisfactory before and after the attack. The 

 dysentery developed rather suddenly during the night, the symptoms being cramps, 

 fever and frequent stools. The latter at first were watery and contained mucus, 

 but within six hours they showed small quantities of blood. For the next few 

 days the dysentery was quite severe; it was characterized by pain, tenesmus and 

 fever ranging from 38° to 40° C. During this time the stools were between ten 

 and twenty-five in number during twenty-four hours, consisting almost entirely 

 of blood and mucus. The symptoms gradually subsided and convalescence was 



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