The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-12-28
ARE IMMUNE FROM
CHOLERA RAvAGES
Treatment Tried BY British
in India Is Proving
Valuable.

the director of the cholera hospital of
Palermo. is most enthusiastic over the
results of the treatment of cholera
first introduced by Major Leonard Ro-
gers of the British army. in Calcutta.
and has advised the government to en-
ploy the same treatment in Tripoli.
The record of the treatment as en-
ployed in Palermo is said to be little
short of the miraculous. During the
first ten days twenty-seven cases were
treated by intravenous injection, and
there were fourteen recoveries. Dur
ing the twelve days following forty
cases were treated and there were
twenty-four recoveries. In the sue
ceeding month fifty-four severe cases
were treated with only eight deaths
a reduction from the first weeks treat
ment of from so to Is per cent.
In commenting upon the work of
Professor Romano. Major Rogers, who
is now in Palermo, writes: THAT
cases will still be met with of too vir
ulent a nature, or coming too late IN
der observation to be saved from a
fatal termination, it is useless to deny.
Nevertheless, these should be quite ex
ceptional in previously healthy sub
jects, who are neither old nor ex-
tremely young, and who come under
treatment at a fairly early period of
the disease. In such l think the re-
covery rate should be fully 80 per
cent"
Major Rogers method consists brief
ly in injecting a hypertonic salt solu-
ton into the veins of the patient and
in administering to him solutions Of
permanganate by the mouth. To ap-
preciate the mechanism of the treat
chanism of the disease. The bacillus
Of cholera, it will be remembered,
lodges exclusively in the intestine and
there manufactures the cholera tox-
ms.
AS result Of their presence, fluids
and salts are drawn from the body:
the volume of the blood is diminished,
and it's specific gravit is increased.
death usually resulting from collapse,
due to the fall of blood pressure and
to exhaustion. The immediate danger
of collapse is avoided by the intra-
venous injection of salt solution that
increases the volume of the blood
stream. and the toxins which are the
cause of the dangerous symptoms are
rendered inert by the use of the per-
mangenates.
finer details the treatment adopted
is remarkable instance of the prin-
ciples Of science being successfully ap-
piled without long intermediate
period Of empirical treatment. Argu
ing that in the collapse stage of chol-
era from one-half to two-thirds of the
serum is lost to the system, Major
Rogers injected into the veins a hyper
tonic solution of salines of about twice
the strength of that commonly used
The special solution has three ad-
vantages: it Increases the volume of
the blood by the mere addition of
fluid; it reverses the direction of the
flow of liquid from t. body to the in
testine and, being hyrertonic, sets up
flow of liquid from the intestines to
the body; it eliminate the very grave
risk that accompanies the administra-
ton of the hypotonic solution.
The authors method of dealing with
the toxins themselves is equally sim
pie. BY administering permanganates
through the mouth he renders the tox-
ms inert. making use of the we'll
known fact that most bacterial tox-
ms are albumoses or similar bodies
and easily destroyed by such oxidizing
agents as the permanganates.