BACTERIOLOGY IN A NUTSHELL. 



Serum Therapy 

 Defined. 



Direct and 

 Indirect Serum 

 Therapy. 



Strength of 

 Serums. 



Purity of 

 Serums. 



PART II. 



SERUM THERAPY. 



Serum therapy is an attempt to combat the 

 activity of certain pathogenic agents by the use 

 of injections into man or animal of specifically 

 antagonistic substances contained in or derived 

 from the cells and body juices of animals artifi- 

 cially immunized against such infections. This 

 process is known to the scientific world as" direct 

 serum therapy." When in the tissues of man 

 or animal antibacterial or antitoxic substances 

 (antitoxins), are made to form, through 

 vaccination or through protective inoculation, 

 the process is spoken of as "indirect serum 

 therapy." Both methods are used for either 

 preventive or curative purposes. Serums are 

 also used for the purpose of diagnosis in 

 diseases due to bacterial invasion. 



Serums, in order to be effective, must be of a 

 specified strength. In the early days of treat- 

 ment of diphtheria by antitoxin, the low value 

 of the serum made it of comparatively little 

 effect unless used in very large doses, as the 

 preparation contained only about twenty (20) 

 antitoxin units per cubic centimeter. Many 

 serums now-a-days contain more than 500 units 

 per cubic centimeter. 



Antitoxic and other serums must be free 

 from micro-organisms and toxins. 

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