bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Anti-plague Measures in San Francisco, California, U.S.A
Authors: Blue Rupert
Published: May 2009

The plague suppressive campaign which is now drawing to a close in San Francisco has been conducted almost entirely on the principle that the great factor in the spread and continuance of the disease is the rat. The fact that the epidemic among human beings ceased within four months after the beginning of active operations and that in spite of the distribution of the disease in almost every quarter of the city, only one hundred and fifty-nine cases, with seventy-seven deaths occurred, proves the wisdom of this policy. The campaign has been conducted by the United States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service.
A Note on Experimental Lead Poisoning
Authors: Goadby Kenneth
Published: May 2009

The incidence of Industrial Lead Poisoning is closely related to those sections of the manufactures which involve the production of dust. In white-lead works, paint-grinding shops, litharge grinding, electrical accumulator works, etc., the dust takes the form of minute particles of the special compound of lead manipulated by the workman. In smelting, desilverising, trimming metals and in file cutting, finely divided metallic lead, or a lead oxide, is present in the workshop air.
House Flies as Carriers of Disease
Authors: Nash J. T. C.
Published: May 2009

All observers agree that Musca domestica comprises over 90 percent. of the flies found in houses; my own observations show 97 percent. M. domestica is most easily distinguished by the venation of its wings, the fourth vein being bent up at an angle, and by the four longitudinal black stripes on the thorax. It is thus easily distinguished from Homolomyia canicularis, another somewhat smaller fly which frequents houses and forms the bulk of the remaining 3—10 per cent.
The Physiological Effect of Cobalt Carbonyl Vapour
Authors: Armit H. W.
Published: May 2009

The discovery of cobalt tetra-carbonyl by Dr Hirtz and Mr Cowapp in Dr Ludwig Mond's laboratories offered a further opportunity of studying the toxic action of volatile compounds of the heavy metals. Through the kindness of Dr Mond, a sufficient quantity of cobalt carbonyl was placed at my disposal for physiological experimentation.
On the Nature of the Cellular Elements Present in Milk. Part III. The Milk of Animals other than the Cow
Authors: Hewlett R. Tanner , Villar Sidney , Revis Cecil
Published: May 2009

The general consideration of these results only tends to confirm the conclusions already arrived at. A uniform type of life evidently tends to a fairly uniform excretion of tissue cells from the udder. The case of Goat II also emphasises the effect of outside causes in increasing temporarily this excretion, while some of the samples of human milk show plainly that very high cell counts are not by any means necessarily connected with any diseased or disordered condition of the mammary gland.

We again emphasise the view we have already stated, viz. that in the cow the udder must be looked upon as an organ which has by breeding and selection been brought to an artificial condition of milk secretion and that this has been accompanied by a stimulation of the tissues to cell proliferation and that this proliferation may quite easily be caused to become abnormally great, leading to the appearance of an increased number of cells in the secretion. In support of this view we lay great stress on the fact constantly noticed by us, viz. that when the cell count is high for any reason, the cells themselves are always well-defined, showing little signs of degeneration, and also stain in a much more characteristic and definite manner, a fact which is diffcult to explain if they are to be considered to be blood elements.
On the Chemical Changes Produced in Flour by Bleaching
Authors: Monier-Williams G. W.
Published: May 2009

The action of air containing nitrogen peroxide upon flour, in quantities up to 300 c.c. of nitrogen peroxide to one kilogramme of flour, may be summarised as follows:—

I. The golden-yellow tint of the flour is destroyed. Immediately after bleaching no difference in tint due to excess of the bleaching agent could be observed with Lovibond's tintometer, but on keeping for several days the more highly bleached samples became decidedly yellow, while those treated with 30 to 100 c.c. of nitrogen peroxide per kilogramme became still whiter, the maximum of bleaching effect being attained within these limits.

II. The amount of nitrous acid or nitrites present in a freshly bleached flour is approximately proportional to the amount of nitrogen peroxide employed, and corresponds to about 30% of the total nitrogen absorbed, rising to 40% in the more highly bleached samples. After the lapse of several days, the proportion of nitrites present decreases considerably in the higher concentrations, but remains very nearly the same in the more slightly bleached samples.

III. Approximately 60% of the total nitrogen introduced as nitrogen peroxide into the flour during bleaching can be recovered as ammonia a short time after bleaching by reducing the aqueous extract of the flour with a copper-zinc couple, and may be assumed to be present in the flour as nitric and nitrous acids or as nitrates and nitrites. After keeping the bleached flour for some days the amount of nitric acid extracted with cold water decreases. Experiments with pure glutenin and gliadin indicated that in certain circumstances nitric acid may be withdrawn from solution or “adsorbed” by these proteins.

IV. In highly bleached flour a considerable increase in the amounts of soluble proteins and soluble carbohydrates takes place. If one kilogramme of flour is bleached with 300 c.c. of nitrogen peroxide, the amount of soluble nitrogen is doubled. This appears to be due almost entirely to the solubility of gliadin in nitric acid of certain concentrations. The simultaneous increase of soluble carbohydrates would seem to point to an intimate relationship between the gliadin and certain carbohydrates in flour.

V. If highly bleached flour is allowed to stand for some time after bleaching, the oil undergoes very considerable alteration and acquires the characteristics of an oxidised oil. About 6 to 7% of the nitrogen introduced as nitrogen peroxide during bleaching is absorbed by the oil.

VI. The absorption of nitrogen peroxide by flour does not appear to be accompanied by the production of free nitrogen, nor was any evidence obtained of the formation of diazo-compounds.

VII. Sodium nitrite was found to exert no inhibitory action on the digestion of soluble starch by saliva, but the rate of digestion was greatly retarded if the starch had been previously treated with nitrogen peroxide gas. Bleaching was found to exercise an inhibitory effect on the salivary digestion of flour.
Upon the Inoculation of Materia Morbi through the Human Skin by Flea-bites
Authors: Walker Cranston
Published: May 2009

1. When fleas bit through films of Tuberculin, Vaccine Lymph, and Staphylococcus Emulsion lying upon the human skin, no inoculation was observed in 188 instances out of 195. In six of the experiments with Tuberculin, inoculation followed, which possibly was not due to the flea-bites. Controls gave positive results.

2. When the same materials were rubbed over recent flea-bites, no inoculations followed. Controls were positive.

3. A very minute dose of Tuberculin, such as might be conveyed by a flea's proboscis, will produce a recognisable reaction in a susceptible person.

4. The bearing of the results on the question of plague transmission is discussed.
On the Survival of Specific Microorganisms in Pupae and Imagines of Musca Domestica raised from experimentally Infected Larvae. Experiments with B. Typhosus
Authors: Ledingham J. C. G.
Published: May 2009

Although typhoid bacilli were liberally supplied to larvae of Musca domestica, all attempts to demonstrate B. typhosus in the pupae or imagines were unsuccessful, until recourse was had to disinfection of the ova. After this preliminary disinfection both larvae and pupae gave pure growths of B. typhosus but hitherto it has not been possible to examine the imagines.

In the experiments with unsterilised ova great difficulty was experienced in determining whether B. typhosus was present in MacConkey plates owing to the almost invariable occurrence of the colourless typhoid-like colonies of the Bacillus “A” which was evidently an organism throughly adapted to the conditions prevailing in the interior of the larvae, pupae and imagines.

The fact also that this organism like B. typhosus fermented mannite without the production of gas, rendered the search for B. typhosus still more difficult.

By the employment of sorbite—in place of lactose-media, a preliminary differentiation might have been possible but was not considered practicable in the first place owing to the expense of sorbite, and secondly owing to the fact that the fermentation of sorbite by B. typhosus though constant, is sometimes delayed. The most satisfactory plan was to pick off as many colonies as possible and inoculate them on litmus-milk. Bacillus “A” invariably rendered litmus-milk intensely alkaline.

From the practical point of view the main conclusion to be drawn from the experiments detailed in this communication is that the typhoid bacillus can lead only a very precarious existence in the interior of larvae or pupae which possess, at least in so far as these investigations warrant, a well-defined bacterial flora of their own.

Even under the highly artificial conditions of the final series of experiments, it was not possible to decide whether the B. typhosus though recoverable from the pupa was really actively multiplying in the pupal interior or gradually dying out. There was some indication that the latter was the case, as the typhoid colonies recovered from the pupa in the one successful instance, were extremely few in number, while the larvae which had been feeding on B. typhosus contained enormous numbers as evidenced both by cultural and microscopical examination.

Since the above experiments were concluded, some further researches by Graham-Smith (1911) on the carriage of bacteria by flies have appeared in the form of a Local Government Board Report. This author has succeeded in recovering B. anthracis from blow-flies bred from larvae fed on meat infected with spores of this organism, but has failed to recover B. typhosus or B. enteritidis under similar experimental conditions.
Infective Methaemoglobinaemia in rats caused by Gaertner's Bacillus
Authors: Boycott A. E.
Published: May 2009

1. A spontaneous epidemic of Gaertner infection among rats was found associated with methaemoglobinaemia and, in some cases, anaemia.

2. Strains of Gaertner's bacillus isolated from these rats reproduced methaemoglobinaemia in fresh rats but not in rabbits, guinea-pigs or mice.

3. Other strains of Gaertner's bacillus from rats, guinea-pigs and human sources also caused methaemoglobinaemia either before or after passage through rats.

4. Other organisms pathogenic for rats did not produce methaemoglobinaemia.
A Rapid Gravimetric Method of Standardising Vaccines
Authors: Wilson W. James , Dickson Charles
Published: May 2009

1. A method is described of rapidly evaporating to dryness bacterial emulsions contained in tarred flasks and from the increase of weight determining the strength of the emulsion.

The same apparatus can be used for a variety of purposes, e.g. drying serum, estimating solids in water, milk etc.

2. A very rapid method of drying bacteria smeared on a tarred piece of platinum foil, and from the dried residue preparing a vaccine is described.

3. A correlation between the number and weight of bacteria in vaccines made from agar cultures of the B. typhosus, B. coli, B. pyocyaneus, Meningococcus (Weichselbaum), Pseudo-Gonococcus, Micrococcus melitensis, B. pneumoniae Friedlander, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus has been established.

4. The advantages of the gravimetric method are:

(a) That with a sensitive balance constant results are obtained.

(b) It is more rapid, and involves no strain ou the eyes.

(c) It can be applied to cultures of all bacteria growing on solid media, whether these form uniform emulsions or not, e.g. vaccines of Streptococci, Micrococcus catarrhalis, Diphtheroid organisms, B. tuberculosis, Streptothrices can be accurately standardised. Even small clumps in the vaccine considerably vitiate the results in Wright's method. The chief precaution to take in the gravimetric method is to remove the growth carefully, without breaking the surface of the medium and avoiding the condensation water.

(d) It brings into line the dosage of bacterio-proteins with that of other medical remedies.
On the Specificity of Bacterial Mutation, with a Résumé of the Results of an Examination of Bacteria found in Faeces and Urine, which undergo Mutation when grown on Lactose Media
Authors: Penfold W. J.
Published: May 2009

Neisser in 1906 claimed to have discovered an organism which, when grown on lactose-agar, threw off suddenly a new strain capable of fermenting lactose. The identity of the new strain was established by Massini (1907) by many cultural and serological tests, and from that time onwards it has been generally accepted that new bacterial strains of great permanence may arise so suddenly as to justify this type of variation being named “ Mutation.”
Cancer and Race in British Guiana.
Authors: Haslam J. F. C.
Published: May 2009

In a Memorandum circulated through the Colonial Office, the Cancer Committee of the Ministry of Health expressed a desire for any available information as to the incidence of cancer upon persons of different races living under similar conditions. While there are a good many parts of the world in which considerable numbers of people of different races live side by side, in few of such places are records available for the purpose of a statistical enquiry.
The Relationship of Streptococci to Scarlet Fever
Authors: James G. R.
Published: May 2009

This report is a contribution to the joint investigation, organised by the Ministry of Health, into the bacteriology of Scarlet Fever. It has been carried out with the aid of a grant from the Ministry to whom I am indebted for permission to publish these results.
Adsorption of Tuberculin by Coal Dust
Authors: Cummins S. Lyle , Weatherall C. , Waters E. T.
Published: May 2009

While investigating the effects of silica dust and coal dust respectively in the production of respiratory disease in coal miners, we have been struck by the sharp contrast between silicotic coal miners in South Wales as compared with silicotic gold miners in South Africa in their respective liability to pulmonary tuberculosis. Coal miners have always been noted for their relatively low tuberculosis mortality, while gold miners and other workers in hard rock, but exempt from simultaneous exposure to coal dust, are conspicuous for their marked liability to fatal pulmonary tuberculosis in late middle age. And yet the recent findings of Cummins and Sladden (1930) and of the Medical Staff of the Welsh National Memorial Association (1930) indicate that both in the pathological, histological and chemical characters of the lungs of Welsh coal miners and in the X-ray appearances observed in long-service colliers of over forty years of age, there is nothing to distinguish them from Band gold miners suffering from silicosis except the added presence of large amounts of coal dust in the lung tissue of coal miners and their relatively low tuberculosis mortality. This contrast has been discussed by one of us (S.L.C.) in a recent paper (1931) and the suggestion made that the well-known adsorption power of finely divided carbon particles for colloidal substances might be a factor in reducing the liability of the coal miner to pulmonary tuberculosis.
The Technique of Detecting Diphtheria Bacillus Carriers and its Application
Authors: O'Meara R. A. Q.
Published: May 2009

The technique of detecting diphtheria bacillus carriers has found little recognition in the literature of diphtheria.

A method of detecting diphtheria carriers by single swabbings is described.

The method is somewhat elaborate but is highly efficient.

The results which may be obtained with it are discussed.

Its application in certain specific cases is briefly considered.
Immunisation with Inactive Vaccinia Virus
Authors: Bland J. O. W.
Published: May 2009

Experiments were carried out on rabbits, guinea-pigs and monkeys to test the immunity produced by vaccinia virus killed with heat, phenol or formalin. Before use, the vaccines were rigorously tested for their inactivity by a method of inoculation and triple passage in series. The test of immunity was quantitative.

The rabbit experiments gave equivocal results but indicated that a slight immunity was produced in some cases. In guinea-pigs more success was obtained: they could be protected against one to ten minimal infecting doses and showed a partial immunity to stronger tests. Monkeys were only tried in one experiment in which a weak vaccine was used. This did not protect them.

The superiority of guinea-pigs for this kind of work is discussed as also the bearing of the results obtained with them on the nature of immunity to vaccinia virus.
The Evidence ofBrucella abortusInfection in Slaughterhouse Men
Authors: Dible J. Henry , Pownall Margaret
Published: May 2009

Men engaged in slaughtering and dressing meat show a higher incidence ofBrucella abortusagglutinins than those in similar age and sex groups who are otherwise employed, where titres of 1 in 20 and upwards are observed.

This applies especially to men who deal with cattle and sheep; no such increased incidence has been noted in men dealing with pigs.

It would seem that a titre in the vicinity of 1 in 40 serves to indicate evidence ofBrucellainfection definitely greater than that likely to be found in the generality of the community.
The Rabicidal Antibody Content of Rabbit Immune Serum as an Index of Acquired Resistance to Rabies Infection
Authors: Stuart G. , Krikorian K. S.
Published: May 2009

1. Opinions upon the relationship between anti-rabies immunity and the rabicidal power of rabies-immune serum have been stated.

2. The rabicidal antibody content of the sera of rabbits immunised with etherised virus, living fixed virus and carbolised virus has been determined while at its maximum and compared with the degree of immunity acquired after each method of treatment.
Qualitative or Quantitative Methods in the Serological Diagnosis of Enteric Infections?
Authors: Horgan E. S.
Published: May 2009

1. “Normal” agglutinins forB. typhosusandB. paratyphosusB appear to be conclusively of the O type.

2. Such agglutinins appear to be of consistently low titre and are absent in many sera.

3. Normal agglutinins forB. paratyphosusA have not been encountered.

4. O agglutinins are readily produced by inoculation of a T.A.B. vaccine, and may rise to as high titres as those encountered during an enteric infection.

5. It is impossible to fix any limit for residual O agglutinins in inoculated persons.

6. The value of examining for O agglutinins in enteric cases is confirmed.

7. Some fallacies of a purely qualitative method are pointed out, and a plea is made for the inclusion of the principles of qualitative receptor analysis in a quantitative Widal.
The Haemoglobin Concentration of Normal English Males and Females
Authors: Jenkins C. E. , Don C. S. D.
Published: May 2009

The determination of the mean normal haemoglobin concentration has re ceived more attention in America than in this country. Recently Price-Jones (1931) has compared the values in London with those found in America. He used the Haldane haemoglobinometer and his results are as accurate as is possible having regard to the method employed. In America his results were 3 percent. above those of the Haldane gas analysis apparatus (1901) by which theclinical instrument is supposed to be calibrated. Twenty comparisons were made in America and showed that the Haldane gas apparatus gave results averaging 2·6 per cent. below those of the Van Slyke apparatus. Price-Jones considers this to have no statistical significance. From the standpoint of experimental accuracy the difference is appreciable, as all methods for the measurement of oxygen combined with Hb are essentially pragmatic.
A Comparative Study of the Physiological Effects on Children of School Heating by Hot-Water Radiators and by Radiant Heat from Electric Ceiling and Wall Panels
Authors: Crowden G. P. , Hetherington M. , Luxton W. R.
Published: May 2009

1. An attempt has been made to ascertain by physiological observations on school children whether the radiant heat from a heating installation comprising electric panels suspended from the ceilings and walls of the classrooms, in a semi open-air school, was sufficient to impart adequate warmth to children while performing the ordinary curriculum of an elementary school.

2. During identical cold weather conditions, observations were made on children in two schools in the same area, the one heated by electric ceiling and wall panels and the other, the control school, heated by hot-water radiators and pipes.

3. The children in classrooms heated by radiant heat from electric ceiling and wall panels were found to be attempting to perform ordinary elementary school work under conditions of chilling incompatible with comfort and efficiency, and without such compensating factors as frequent exercise and controlled nutrition, neither of which are possible in such a school.

4. The observations made on the children in the semi open-air electric-panel heated school, the air temperatures and cooling powers encountered in the classrooms, and the control observations made in the hot-water heated school under similar weather conditions prove that the radiant heat emitted from the electric ceiling and wall panels was insufficient to impart adequate warmth to the children, and that the heating system as at present installed and controlled, is unable adequately to cope with such cold conditions as are commonly met with during the winter months of the year.
The Inactivation of Bactericidal and Haemolytic Complement on standing
Authors: Gordon J. , Hoyle L.
Published: May 2009

Hecht (1923) states that the haemolytic activity of serum complement disappears on standing, but that the activity can be restored by the addition of heated fresh serum. It has also been shown (Gordon and Wormall, 1928; Gordon, 1930;. Gordon and Carter, 1932) that the bactericidal action of serum involves the activity of a complement similar to haemolytic complement and that inactivation of the latter by dilute ammonia and congo red causes, at the same time, inactivation of the bactericidal complement. The experiments now to be described show that the similarity of the two complements is exhibited once again in the effect of long standing on serum.
An Investigation of the Effects of Adverse Atmospheric Conditions such as are Encountered in Various Industries on Mental and Muscular Efficiency
Authors: Glock Gertrude E.
Published: May 2009

Adverse atmospheric conditions, such as occur in mines and various industries, have been shown by numerous workers to have profound effects on both the health and efficiency of the industrial worker.
Iodine as an aerial disinfectant
Authors: Raymond W. F.
Published: May 2009

1. Iodine vapour at a readily tolerable concentration of 0·1 mg./cu.ft. of air gives a rapid kill of freshly sprayed salivary organisms at humidities above 50 %.

2. At the same concentration dry bacteria are not as readily killed, the killing rate only becoming appreciable above 70 % R.H.
Thein vitroaction of disinfectants and the application of CTAB in the control ofStr. agalactiaemastitis
Authors: Hughes D. L. , Edwards S. J.
Published: May 2009

1.In vitroexperiments carried out by a modified Rideal-Walker technique showed the superiority of CTAB over chlorine and chloroxylenol disinfectants againstStr. agalactiae.

2. The disinfectant action of 1 % CTAB persisted on the surface of dry hands and cows' teats for a period of at least 3 hr. Subsequent moistening of the hands with milk reduced the efficiency of this disinfectant.

3. For the prevention of dissemination ofStr. agalactiaeby means of milkers' hands and at the same time to reduce the incidence of infection on the surface of teats, a lanette wax-oil base containing 1 % CTAB was tested. It was found that the inclusion in the cream base of CTAB did not reduce its bactericidal efficiency.
Diarrhoea and enteritis amongst infants in the London area, 1930–8
Authors: Wright G. Payling , Wright Helen Payling
Published: May 2009

The present inquiry was undertaken to obtain some indication of the relative frequencies of deaths amongst infants from the various forms of diarrhoea and enteritis—‘neonatal’, ‘parenteral’ and ‘infectious’—in the Greater London area in the decade before the war. Since much of the material needed for such an analysis was not available in the published records, a sampling inquiry, making use of the more elaborate records maintained by the Medical Officer of Health, was undertaken for the Borough of Willesden. A comparison of the relevant epidemiological and social conditions in this borough with those in the Greater London area as a whole showed, that for such a purpose, it might properly be regarded as a representative sample.

There was little evidence for the occurrence of the neonatal form in Willesden during the period studied, nor did the seasonal distribution of the deaths suggest that many took place in consequence of preceding parenteral infections. On the other hand, there did seem to be some evidence that a significant proportion of these deaths were in some degree associated with one another, in time or place or both, and it is suggested that this distribution might have resulted from the widespread dissemination in the community of one or more strains of some common micro-organism of relatively low virulence for all but the infant population.

A less detailed study of data for other London boroughs, viz., Bermondsey, Croydon, East Ham, Tottenham and West Ham, supported the main conclusion reached from the Willesden records.
Vaccination by scarification with a combined 17D yellow fever and vaccinia vaccine
Authors: Dick G. W. A. , Horgan E. S.
Published: May 2009

Comparable groups of adult African women were vaccinated (a) with a mixed 17 D yellow fever-vaccinia vaccine administered by scarification, or (b) by inoculation subcutaneously with 17 D vaccine followed by scarification with vaccinia vaccine. There was no significant difference in the response of the two groups to the vaccinia vaccine. In the group inoculated with the mixed vaccine, of those whose sera contained no demonstrable yellow fever antibody prior to vaccination, 66·6% had developed antibody when their sera were tested 28 days later. In the other group 100% had developed antibody by the twenty-eighth day after vaccination.

It is suggested that the difference in the response of the groups in this study might be due to some local interference which prevented invasion by the 17D virus in some cases.

While there is good evidence for the efficiency of 17D vaccine as an immunizing agent when administered by scarification (Hahn, 1951; Dick, 1952), the present study indicates that the percentage of those who became immune after vaccination with the mixed vaccine used in this trial is not sufficiently high to suggest that this type of mixed vaccine should be used routinely.

In none of our patients was any reaction noted to the mixed or double vaccinations. Further information is required on the reaction of both negro and white races to combined vaccinations with yellow fever and vaccinia viruses. It is suggested that a careful follow-up of persons vaccinated by the combined Dakar vaccine might produce some valuable information in this respect.

Our thanks are due to Dr George Campbell Young for his very great co-operation, and to Messrs W. A. Whittaker, L. E. Hewitt and D. Santos for technical assistance.
An experimental factor analysis of cancer mortality in England and Wales 1921–30
Authors: Buckatzsch John , Doll Richard
Published: May 2009

A Factor Analysis has been made of the co-variation between the mortality rates from cancer of ten male body sites and of eight female body sites, in thirty large towns in England and Wales from 1921 to 1930. The method of analysis adopted is Hotelling's method of Principal Components.

Four male and four female Factors are obtained, which together account for approximately three-quarters of the total variance.

A Factor is found to be associated with cancer of the larynx, oesophagus, stomach and tongue in men and with cancer of the stomach and negatively with cancer of the breast and ovaries in women. In both sexes, the Factors are associated with an index of adverse social conditions.

Another Factor is found to be associated with cancer of the rectum and bladder in men and this Factor is associated with good social conditions.

A special Factor associated with cancer of the colon is unrelated to the mortality from cancer of other sites, save that in women it is negatively associated with cancer of the rectum.

A Factor for cancer of the lung in men is unrelated to cancer of the larynx, and is inversely related to cancer of the tongue.

We are most grateful to Dr Percy Stocks, late of the General Register Office, and to Dr W. P. D. Logan, Chief Medical Statistician of the General Register Office, for their help in providing us with the relevant basic material; and to Miss E. M. Hines, Miss A. H. Huntley and Miss M. Rogers for assistance in the calculations.
Sociologic factors in the spread of epidemic hepatitis in a rural school district
Authors: Ipsen Johannes , Donovan William R. , James George
Published: May 2009

An epidemic of epidemic hepatitis occurred in the district of a rural Central School in Yates and Ontario Counties of Central New York. The epidemic comprised 176 cases of which 135 were jaundiced, and extended from September 1949 to May 1950, with most cases in March 1950.

No common source could be demonstrated and the transmission was believed to be due to human contact alone.

The overall morbidity rate was about 5%, attack rate among school children 22%, and among the adults and pre-school family contacts of infected school children the attack rate was 18%, with no significant age difference in attack rate.

Differences in attack rate in the various school grades were explained by higher number of siblings of children in certain grades.

Household attack rates among non-school persons were related to number of sick school children, family size, and hygienic standard of the home. The first of these factors seemed most important.

More jaundiced cases occurred in families where the exposure was heaviest.
The rates of recovery of sewer rat populations after poisoning
Authors: Bentley E. W. , Bathard A. H. , Riley J. D.
Published: May 2009

1. The recovery, after poisoning, of the rat population of eight sewer systems was measured by the bait-census method.

2. In three of the systems the mean rate of increase was of the order of 3% per week. This is attributed solely to breeding and is regarded as typical for rats in sewers.

3. Higher rates of increase (up to 11·8%) were also recorded but are believed to have been partly due to immigration or to have been only apparent (as a result of census difficulties).

4. The consequences for control of a rate of increase as low as 3% per week are discussed.

Our thanks are due to eight Local Authorities, their Chief Public Health Officers and members of their staffs, without whose help the work would have been impossible, and to a number of colleagues, especially Mr J. H. Greaves, who helped with much of the census work.
Bacteriological aspects of sewage purification and river pollution
Authors: Keller Paul
Published: May 2009

The National Institute for Water Research of the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research has been engaged on extensive research into the conservation of water supplies and into the reclamation of industrial and sewage effluents. Within the framework of this programme, a comparative study of the efficiency in the reduction of bacterial numbers by existing conventional sewage treatment plants has been carried out. The numerical decreases in bacterial populations after primary sedimentation, biological filtration, the activated sludge process, secondary sedimentation (humus tank), and final sand filtration have been compared with the reduction in bacterial numbers attained by the treatment of sand-filter effluent, humus tank effluent, and primary biological filter effluent in units for further biological purification.

Various types of units for this purpose have been investigated, and from available results it appears perfectly feasible to consider the suitability of effectively purified sewage effluents as sources for raw water supplies for industrial and domestic use. Sewage effluents after final further biological purification could be admitted for unrestricted discharge into rivers. The possibility of objections from the point of view of public health and future use is completely ruled out by the fact that the quality of the final effluent is as good as that of river water.

A variety of experimental units for further biological purification of sewage effluents have been studied, and a comparison of the results obtained from grass-plots, artificial vleis (a natural vlei in South Africa is a marshy or swampy depression in the ground in which water collects and which supports a standing vegetation), algal beds, artificial model rivers, and maturation or oxidation ponds have shown that maturation ponds, possibly a number of ponds in series, with an established microflora and microfauna of their own, may provide the final solution of the problem. Further biological purification will play an important role in the conservation of water supplies and will contribute to the raw water sources available for industrial and domestic use.

In parallel with these studies, the effect of the discharge of sewage effluents from conventional treatment plants into a river system has been investigated together with the fate of the sewage bacteria after admission to a natural environment. The manifestations of self-purification have been recorded, and the additional or superimposed effect of run-off and drainage from populated and unpopulated areas, as well as the admission of storm-water, have been considered together with the effects of seasonal variations due to climatic conditions.

The author wishes to express his gratitude to his assistants who bravely bore the burden of the routine work involved, and wishes to thank the S.A. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for permission to publish this paper.
Survival of microbial aerosols: experimental observations and calculations
Authors: Morton J. D.
Published: May 2009

In experiments on survival of microbial aerosols, viability should be measured as early as possible in the life of the cloud, but this must not be used as the datum to which subsequent viabilities are related; all viabilities must be related to that of the material from which the cloud was generated. Mathematical models may be used as a convenience in expressing results, but observed viabilities must also be quoted.

I am indebted to the many colleagues whose work over the years has consolidated this approach, and particularly to Mr G. J. Harper whose experiments and thinking form the backbone of my discussion.
Experiments designed to determine the mechanism of the adjuvant activity of Gram-negative organisms upon antibody production
Authors: Farthing J. R. , Holt L. B.
Published: May 2009

The characteristics of Gram-negative organisms and some of the underlying reasons for their adjuvant action with diphtheria toxoid are described.

The adjuvant effect was shown by an earlier production of antitoxin, with a maintained differential advantage over controls, but with the usual decline in titre with passage of time. The adjuvant effect only occurred with a primary stimulus. There was no adsorption between toxoid and vaccine and mixture of the two was not necessary, but the vaccine had to be given simultaneously with or within 24 hr. following injection of the toxoid. There was evidence for believing that these adjuvants decreased the minimal stimulating dose of antigen and caused hyperplasia of antibody-producing cells. No direct link could be found between the characteristic stress symptoms caused by lipopolysaccharides and their ability to enhance antibody formation.
The detection of a bovine carrier of Salmonella heidelberg
Authors: Davies E. T. , Venn J. A. J.
Published: May 2009

1. Salmonella heidelberg infection in humans was traced to one cow excreting the organism in milk.

2. The cow was clinically normal and infection was confined to the right hind-quarter of the udder.

3. The affected quarter had numerous haemorrhagic foci but there was no inflammatory response to the infection.

4. Histological preparations suggested that Streptococcus uberis was causing a chronic mastitis in all four quarters.
Meningococcal ‘aseptic’ meningitis
Authors: Ross Constance A. C. , Stevenson John
Published: May 2009

The usefulness of the meningococcal CF test was assessed by investigating sera from (a) patients with meningococcal meningitis from whom meningococci had been isolated, and (b) patients with aseptic meningitis in whom no virus aetiology had been demonstrated and from whose C.S.F. no bacteria had been isolated.

Meningococcal CF antibodies were relatively strain-specific; cross-reacting anti-bodies to heterologous strains were irregular both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Positive meningococcal CF tests were obtained in 8 cases of aseptic meningitis, 3 showing a predominance of lymphocytes and 5 a predominance of polymorpho-nuclears in C.S.F. As a result of these positive tests, the cases of lymphocytic aseptic meningitis were given energetic antibiotic therapy to avoid the possibility of more chronic infection.

We wish to thank many clinical and bacteriological colleagues for their co-operation, and Prof. S. Graham for details of one case. We are grateful to Dr Patricia Bradstreet, Standards Laboratory for Serological Reagents, London, N.W. 9, for meningococcal agglutination results, and to Miss C. Gourlay for valuable technical assistance.
The clinical reaction of Nigerian children to measles vaccine with and without gamma globulin
Authors: Morley D. , Katz S. L. , Krugman S.
Published: May 2009

1. The severity of measles in infants and young children in Ilesha in Nigeria suggested this as a suitable centre for a trial of measles vaccine.

2. The trial was divided into three stages. In the first the vaccine was given to a group of 26 children who could be kept under close observation and were seen twice daily. In the second the vaccine was given to 120 children, a similar group receiving gamma globulin and an inert material. In the third stage the effect of vaccine and gamma globulin given as separate injections to 378 children, was compared with that of gamma globulin and inert material given to another control group. The second and third stages were run on the ‘double blind’ principle.

3. The children receiving vaccine alone showed fairly severe reactions but none were disabled by them; for example, 19 % had fever over 103° F. The reactions were similar to those observed in American children, with the one exception that diarrhoea was seen amongst African children receiving vaccine without gamma globulin. Those receiving vaccine and gamma globulin had only minor reactions. In the vaccinated children there was a notable absence of the severe complications seen with the natural disease in Nigeria.

4. Children who were well below the average weight for their age and sex in this community did not show more severe reactions than those above the average weight.
A milk-borne outbreak of food poisoning due to Salmonella heidelberg
Authors: Knox W. A. , Galbraith N. S. , Lewis M. J. , Hickie G. C. , Johnston H. H.
Published: May 2009

A milk-borne outbreak of Salm. heidelberg infection due to unpasteurized milk from tuberculin-tested cows is described. There were 77 cases and 46 symptomless excreters of the organism. There were no deaths. The infection was traced to a cow with a symptomless salmonella mastitis and the origin of the organism was thought to be contaminated animal feeding stuffs.

We are indebted to Dr Joan Taylor, Colindale, for the identification of the salmonella serotypes; to Dr H. R. Cayton, Bristol, for assistance in the examination of animal feeding stuffs; to Dr E. N. Davey, Gloucester, for permission to include his results of milk examinations; and to the following public health inspectors who assisted in the field investigation—Mr A. Furniss, Mr G. Baillie and Mr M. V. Smith, Cirencester Urban District; Mr H. Wheeler and Mr R. Hayward, Cirencester Rural District; Mr P. Hayter, Bristol; and Mr D. S. Smith, Trowbridge.
Adverse reactions in cattle after vaccination with lapinized rinderpest virus
Authors: Scott G. R.
Published: May 2009

A survey embracing all cattle vaccinated in Kenya with lapinized rinderpest virus between 1 January 1954 and 30 June 1956 revealed an over-all incidence rate of adverse reactions of 0·09 %. The real incidence rate approached 3 per 1000 cattle because only susceptible cattle were at risk. Four types of reactions were recognized. The most serious, because of the attendant high case mortality rate, was aggravation of latent protozoal infections. The commonest reactions were rinderpest-like without serious sequelae except in pregnant cows, many of which aborted. Transient spermatolysis was observed in six vaccinated bulls and anaphylaxis was recorded rarely.

The incidence of rinderpest-like reactions was primarily influenced by the innate resistance of the cattle. The viral strains recovered from reacting cattle were genotypically unchanged.

I am grateful to Mr J. W. Macaulay, B.Sc., F.R.C.V.S., D.V.S.M., Chief Veterinary Research Officer, Kabete, Kenya, for his encouragement, advice and counsel. This paper is published by permission of the Director of Veterinary Services, Kenya.
Para-influenza 2 virus infections in adult volunteers
Authors: Taylor-Robinson D. , Bynoe M. L.
Published: May 2009

Twenty-eight adult volunteers were inoculated intranasally with para influenza 2 virus and eight developed illnesses; twenty-eight volunteers were given flanks' saline and one became ill. The illnesses occurred in volunteers given between 2 × 104and 2 × 106TCD 50 of virus. The most prominent symptoms were sore throat, nasal stuffiness and coryza; four of the eight volunteers had sufficient coryza to be regarded as having mild colds. Although only eight volunteers had clinical evidence of infection, twenty-four had laboratory evidence of infection as judged by virus re-isolation or antibody response. Neutralization, haemagglutination-inhibition and complement-fixation tests on paired sera showed that sixteen individuals had a fourfold or greater antibody response by one or more tests including five of the eight volunteers who were ill. Twenty volunteers, including seven who were ill, had reciprocal neutralizing antibody titres of eight or more before inoculation of virus so it seems that the illnesses were due to re infection in the presence of antibody. Evidence is presented which suggests that although illnesses occurred in the presence of antibody they were due to the para influenza 2 virus and not some other agent in the inoculum. The results of these experiments seem to fulifi the third of Koch's postulates for para-influenza 2 virus as a cause of respiratory disease in adults.

We wish to thank Dr P. A. J. Tyrreil for his advice during the course of this work and in the preparation of the manuscript. We also thank Dr K. V. Shah (The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, U.S.A.) for help in some of the early experiments and Miss B. Ridgwell for valuable technical assistance.
An outbreak of food poisoning caused by Salmonella typhi-murium, phage-type 12, probably spread by infected meat
Authors: Harvey R. W. S. , Price T. H. , Bate W. , Allen D. R.
Published: May 2009

An outbreak of food poisoning caused by Salmonella typhi-murium, phage-type 12, in which 122 persons were infected, is described.

Isolation of the same organism from the drains of two large abattoirs, from pig faeces at one abattoir, and from the floor drains of fifteen out of fifty-four butchers' shops and bakehouses examined, together with records showing that this organism had been recently isolated from pigs and cattle in the neighbourhood, suggested that meat was the vehicle of infection.

We are indebted to Dr E. S. Anderson and the staff of the Central Enteric Reference Laboratory and Bureau, Colindale, for phage-typing the cultures of S. typhi-murium.

We should like to thank Prof. Scott Thomson for his encouragement and advice in the preparation of this paper and Mr J. Morgan and Mr B. M. Jones of the Public Health Laboratory, Cardiff, for their technical assistance.
Viruses from the common cold. A survey in Royal Air Force recruits on arrival from civilian life
Authors: Pereira Marguerite S. , Hambling M. H. , McDonald J. C. , Zuckerman A. J.
Published: May 2009

Twenty-three strains of rhinovirus were isolated from 102 patients who had common colds on arrival at a Royal Air Force recruit centre during a 6-month period from June to November, 1960. Three of these strains were M type rhino-viruses similar to ECHO 28 virus. Twenty strains were H type rhinoviruses which fell into six or more different antigenic types. Two of these types were similar to the prototypes Sal/1/58/H and Sheffield/1/60/H. Three types were antigenically distinct from those previously reported in this country and several strains are still unclassified. Other human respiratory viruses were not isolated from common colds occurring at this time among the population studied.

We are indebted to the Senior Medical Officer of R.A.F. Cardington for providing facilities for the investigation, to Squadron Leader M. Shearer for his help in collecting convalescent blood specimens, and to the Director-General of the Royal Air Force Medical Service for permission to publish this paper.

We wish to acknowledge the excellent technical assistance of Miss Ann Deacon. We should also like to thank Dr H. E. M. Kay of the Royal Marsden Hospital for supplying human embryo kidney.
A note on the safety testing of vaccines
Authors: Armitage P.
Published: May 2009

The use of the hypergeometric distribution in calculations of sample volumes for safety testing is criticized. Alternative interpretations of the concept of ‘infective ml. doses’ lead to slightly different solutions, the simplest of which, involving the exponential function, is recommended for general use.
Nasal acquisition of Staphylococcus aureus in partly divided wards
Authors: Lidwell O. M. , Davies J. , Payne R. W. , Newman P. , Williams R. E. O.
Published: May 2009

The spread of coagulase-positive staphylococci has been studied in a modern hospital in which most of the patients were nursed in 4-bed rooms separated from a common corridor only by low dividing walls. Acquisition of new nasal strains from patients in other bedrooms was nearly as easy as from patients in the neighbouring beds. There was no indication that subdivision of this type hindered the spread of nasal strains as compared with open wards of the ‘Nightingale’ pattern.
Myxomatosis: the introduction of the European rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) into wild rabbit populations in Australia
Authors: Sobey W. R. , Conolly Dorothy
Published: May 2009

1. The European rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) bred successfully in wild rabbits on three properties in New South Wales and, within two breeding seasons, almost every rabbit shot within a quarter of a mile of a release site was infested.

2. It was demonstrated that the flea transmitted myxoma virus in the field.

3. In areas where more than 75 % of the rabbits shot at the beginning of the breeding season were flea-infested and myxoma virus was present, populations failed to show the expected summer build-up.