The Wilmington morning star., 1946-11-27
The Doctor Says
.SULFA CONTROLS
DYSENTERY Germ
BY WILLIAM A.. O'BRIFN "

W. D.
Recent experiments in p,;.,
human volunteers permitted t,..
selves to be infected with Nv.
terry germs again proved IN.
fectlveness Of suliadiazine in NV
trolling the disease. Special w.
cinations failed to provide ~.
quate protection against the gsr,.
DR.. Howard J.. sh~aughnessev An,
his associates report in the ,Jo,,.s
Of the American Medical Asso,i,'
ton that experiments on prjso,.~
demonstrated that the dv,er..
germs which are least s~eriou, r.,
mice are able to produce a sev.,.
variety OF the disease in man "
also was determine in the t.,..
mat the disease could be develo,.
ed by feeding victims the GERM
the way in which man had -.
viously been thought to ACQUIRE W. ~
infection. 10
All the volunteers were ken, i.
an isolation ward in the nri.o. n
and all came through the syns,i'
ment without harm.
Bacillary d~ysentery is an io....
tlous disease Of the large ints,.
tine. It is a severe illness, nrodus
ing abdominal cramps. spasn ~,
toxemia. a"u
Bacillary dysentery develo,,
suddenly in two to seven dsy'
after exposure, although in Il.
experiment with human yoll,n.
teers the incubation period va,
seldom longer than "a hours. m.
disease has a tendency to last tvo
to three weeks unless Treatment
is given to shorten it.
Chronic bacillary dysenterv ma,
develop following the acute stsgs
for Intermittent attacks are ots,
followed by periods in which II.
patient is il good health. III.
disease is not to be confused with
chronic Lucrative COLTS.
Bicillary dysentery occurs un,
der the same conditions as do.,
typhoid fever; that is, when food
and drink have been contaminated
by the infected teces Of caryjsu
or Of those i'll with the disease.
Dysentery Is a disease Of crowd,
AID camp life, and It is especially
prevalent where proper sanitation
is difficult to maintain.
Patients with bacillary dyus.
terry are separated from others, 10
prevent spread Of the infection.
Through loss Of fluid through h,
bowel, the blood becomes conc..
trated. To correct this conditiu,
injections Of salt water and sl'
cose are given.
In cases of extreme dehydratu,
plasma is administered as q mean,
of overcoming the shock from de.
hydration. Opiates may be neces.
sary to relieve pain.
Before sulfa drugs were used n
controlling bacillary dysentely. II
was a common practice 10 give 4
purgative to clean out the b0wsl.
This practice has been abandoned,
for 1t is not Of value.
Sulfadiazine or one Of the other
sulfa drugs is administered until
the patient is free Of disease synp'
toms. In those instances in which
the sulfa drugs fail to effect a
cure, a special serum is employed.
Suifadiazine not only controls
the infection in the patient, but i
also suppresse the carrier state
and prevents the subseousA'
spread Of the infection to others
QUESTION: How does one a.
quire resistance to infectious ds
ease?
ANSWER: The only measufa5s
forms of this resistance are ne
immune bodies which are iolli
in the blood following recover!
from an infectious disease o.
after vaccination. While ceriaa
general measures may nd ID
maintaining health, they are M
of value in protecting the 0m
against communicable disease.
dent. ssine our will on u'