Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-01-14
BOOMING DIPHTHERIA
By H. Addington Bruce
THANKS to the increasing use OF anti.
toxin in early stapas Of the disea Sc

T%HANKS to the increasing use OF anti
toxin in early stages Of the disease,
diphtheria today Is not nearly as dire
a menace as 1t formerly was. More than this,
there is reason to hope that henceforth far
| fewer persons will be attacked by it than is
now the case.
| This hope Is based on growing recognition
| of the value of the so-called Schick test in
determining a persons susceptibility to in
lection by diphtheria.
! Suppose diphtheria has broken out in a
community, and member Of that COM
munity wishes to make sure that he will not
| contract the disecse. He consults a physi-
clan, who proceeds, first of all, to ascertain
whether his patient does or does not possess
a natural immunity against diphtheria.
| To ascertain thi the physician injects into
the skin Of the patients arm minute
amount of diphtheria toxin. # natural i'm
munity against diphtheria is present, moth
| ing whatever happens as a result of the in
lection.
But it the patient is susceptible to diph-
iberia a redness develops where the injec-
| ton was made, appearing within twenty-four
| to forty-eight hours and persisting for sew
eral days This, roughly, is the Schick test.
OF course, little would be gained by dis
covering merely the diphtheria immunity or
| diphtheria susceptibility Of any given indi-
susceptible into the immune. 1t only records
the presence or absence of liability to 1nfec-
| tion
There are, however, two ways by which
immunity may be acquired, once susceptible
| ity has been established One Of these ways
| is by giving the susceptible individual dose
| of diphtheria antitoXin.
| This, in any event, should be done as a
! temporary preventive, If diphtheria is cpl
demic in the susceptible ones community.
Antitoxin, though, is only temporary in Its
benefits, comforting immunity for little more
than a month. Then the dose has to be re-
peated, and so on Indefinitely. The immunity
Of antitoxin, in fact, may last for only few
| days.
| Fortunately it as been found that If diph.
iberia toxin and diphtheria antitoxin are
mixed together in certain proportions, three
infections of the mixture at weekly intervals
will produce an immunity continuing for
years, perhaps permanently.
One medical writer even affrms that this
method Of securing immunity will give more
protection against diphtheria than anti
typhoid vaccine gives against typhoid fever -
This is perhaps overenthusiastic, but 1t, at
any rate, serves to call emphatic attention to
a protective measure with which everybody
should be acquainted.
| Already, for that matter, hundreds OF
thousands of persons have submitted them
selves to the Schick test, receiving toxin
antitoxin treatment when this has been found
advisable. AS knowledge spreads Of this
unique means of preventing diphtheria, and
as more physicians familiarize themselves
with the Schick test technique, the power of
diphtheria as life-destroying agent will be
reduced until it perhaps reaches the vanish
| ing point
| Copyright, 1922, by The Associated News
papers.)