XIII, B, 2 



HoMghwout: Infections with Coccidium 



89 



Fig. 4. Cyst of Isospora 

 bigemina, showing de- 

 velopment of sporo- 

 cysts. 



in the early stage, but later it contracts to a 

 spherical mass in the center, leaving clear 

 spaces at each pole of the cyst. Eventually 

 this mass divides, in the case of Isospora into 

 two masses and in the case of Coccidium 

 into four masses. A cyst membrane forms 

 around each of these daughter masses, and 

 some hours later sporozoites and a mass of 

 residual protoplasm can be made out in each 

 of the sporocysts that are contained within 

 the oocyst. Isospora forms four sporozoites 

 in each sporocyst and Coccidium two. This 

 establishes the identification beyond a doubt. 

 All these changes may be seen by making 

 examinations of the cysts under the micro- 

 scope at varying intervals, or the cysts may simply be set 

 aside in the moist chamber for from forty-eight to seventy-two 

 hours and then examined. It is a comparatively simple matter 

 to isolate individual cysts with a capillary pipette under the 

 microscope. 



Finally I desire to say that while I do not predict that coccidia 

 will be found infesting human beings in the Philippine Islands, 

 still, in view of the fact that we have found coccidia in domestic 

 animals here, I see no reason why human coccidiosis should 

 not occur here as it has in other places. It is not hard to see 

 how occasional cases may have been overlooked in the past or 

 may be overlooked in the future. It is on the general practi- 

 tioner that we must largely rely for the opportunity to develop 



our knowledge of this very important con- 

 dition, and the need for that knowledge 

 seems to me to be imperative. 



Note. — Since the above was written I have 

 read the paper of Savage and Young, 2 in 

 which they report the finding of six cases 

 of infection with "Coccidium isospora." It 

 seems safe to assume that the writers were 

 dealing with infections by parasites of the 

 genus Isospora. Five of these cases were 

 in the hospital under the observation of the 

 e . authors. All of these five patients were 

 bf°ewfnl ystotIsospora suffering from dysentery. Two had the 



'' Report on the treatment of fifty-nine cases of Entamoeba histolytica 

 infection, Journ. Roy. Army Med. Corps (1917), 29, 249. 



