The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-01-12
What Rnti-ToSin
Can accomplish
Method by Which the Life Saving
Serum Is Secured.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GERM
A Terrible Foe of Juvenile Humanity May
Be Deficd by Prompt Administration
Of fAuti.TOxin-Facts About Diph.
iberia Set Forth.

DC DeIlcu by prompt ADMINISTRATION
Of fAuti.TOxin-Facts About Diph.
iberia Set Forth.
The decision of the board Of health,
of this city, to obtain quSntity of anti
toxin for use in cases of diphtheria has
caused general inquiry as to the nature
of this remedy, which has saved the
lives of so many sufferers from that
dread disease. Many inquiries have
come to The Tribune asking what the
effect Of anti-toXin is and how it is OBJ
tanned.
If a child has had diphtheria he is i'm
mune; that is, he will resist the at
tacks of that disease. How to render
him immune without sending him the
perilous lengths of an ordinary case Of
diphtheria Is the one object of the stu
dents in the field of anti-toxin. And
they have progressed as follows: In
the first place. they must have some of
the diphtheria germs from the tonslls
of q child actually suffering from the
disease. These they cultivate. They
are provided with laboratories, and in
them they try to produce precisely the
same conditions as to food material,
moisture and warmth which existed in
the throat of the child So assisted the
germs develop. Weeks are required to
bring them to the stage desired.
| In the development of any kind of
germ it's noticed that after time
there is no increase. They refuse to
spread; there is stop to their multiple
cation. Maybe it Is the chemical condi-
tion which their own presence has
created. Whatever 1t is there Is in the
substance on which they have been liv-
ing condition precisely similar to
that reached in the child afflicted with
diphtheria in its most virulent forms.
Then the baclli the germs, are sep
arated from the substance they have
been living on, and the poison they
leave behind is the arrow of death
which strangles the child producing
that hopeless struggle for breath which
has filled so many mothers hearts with
agony, which has strangled so many
children.
Poison Is Injected.
That poisonous substance Is injected
into an animal. To begin, it was tried
on small animals. Guinea pigs were
found useful, because of their extreme
sensitiveness. Goats are used in some
cases, and by some physicians. But
when the work has progressed to that
stage where the investigator knows
the strength in degrees of his poison,
horses are admittedly the best medium
for securing results. The poison is in
jected into their blood. 1t would be an
easy matter to kill the strongest horse
by the simplest addition to the mini
mum of quantity. The effect on the
horse Is similar to the effect on hu-
man. There is the same swelling, the
same fever, the same singular depres-
sion of vitality. E.
A larger quantity of the poison IS in
jected at the next time, and as soon as
the animal has recovered from the ef-
fects of the first infusion. The treat
ment Is repeated, with constantly in
creasing doses. till the maximum of
poison desired is reached and had been
repeated until it is followed by no alb
normal effects. The horse Is now inn
mune. His blood is in condition to
repel the advances of the diphtheria
germ. And now the blood of the horse
is drawn, and from it the serum Is
separated-the colorless portion, the
portion in which the results of the long
experiments have been prisoned.
From six to nine months are required
from the taking of that first swab of
baccili to the time when the blood of
the horse may be drawn. This serum
is the medicinal agent upon which the
hopes of the students are based. Called
to treat a child suffering with diph-
liberia. they inject a portion of the
serum and count tconfidentially on bene-
fetal results. The injection in child
is usually made in the abdominal re-
gion, for the reason that the antitoxin,
or antipoison, is most easily taken up
there and most swiftly conveyed
throughout the body of the patient.
The tissues are looser. The action of
the blood is less impeded.
There Is No Germ to Fight
Now, there is no waiting for the de-
velopment of an animal growth here.
All that has been done in the treatment
of the horse. Here is another germ to
fight the diphtheria germ, and decide
on the battlefield of a child's palate
the question of life or death. 1t Is not
a germ, but the chemical condition
which accompanies the presence Of a
thrvingI colony of germs, and this
chemical condition Is one in which the
diphtheria germ cannot exist, because
1t Is the condition which would exist II
the child had had diphtherla. 1t Is
instant in its operation. 1t should
check the ravages of the destroyer at
once. 1t Is not yet a settled question
There are so many things the profes-
sion does not yet know in connection
with it. But that they have made a
great discovery, and that life Is being
saved with It, seems to be proved be.
yond doubt.
AS to hoW strong dose should be in.
jected, judgment not rule, must be the
guide. The age of the patient. the
length of time the germs have been al
work. his normal vitality. his presen,
condition, the degree of strength In
this serum injected-all these are of
the elements which go to make up de-
cision. And then, even after the most
sure judgment has weighed all these
factors, there may still be the necessity
of inserting n tube, that the child may
breathe while the poison of serum Is
combating and killing the germ Of
diphtheria. Possibly the strength of the
child would be sufficient to defeat the
diphtheria with the old remedies. If he
could only breathe, and so there is ar
open door of uncertainty even where
recovery occurs. But the judgment Of
the profession will be the best answer
to the query: Has antitoxln beneficial
powers? That answer is a most un
qualified affirmative. The working ou
of this problem must be credited to the
Berlin and Paris physicians.
DIR. Krciger on Diphtheria.