On the "sero-diagnosis" of typhoid fever / by A. Sheridan Delépine and E.J. Sidebotham.

  • Delépine, Sheridan, 1855-1921.
Date:
[1896]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the "sero-diagnosis" of typhoid fever / by A. Sheridan Delépine and E.J. Sidebotham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    the name of the reaction with the name of any one ihwT ,Af be advantageous to use a name Ind L ?w be °lea? &. T0rkers of various nationalities, and for that reason I think the term agglomeration is preferable to the shorter and otherwise more convenient word clumping Though I would prefer not to see the name of any writer attached to the reaction itself, I think it is well to recognise (1) that the method of diagnosis of a micro-organism by the changes occurring in the peritoneal cavity of an animal immunised against that microbe must be associated with the name of R. Pfeiffer; (2) that the discovery of the clumping phenomenon outside the body ne ®erum of immunised animals must be associated with the names of Charrin and Roger. Metchnikoff and Jtsordet; (3) that the utilisation of this method for the diagnosis of microbes must be associated with the names of Gruber and Durham, who have worked out the method with more care than previous observers; and (4) that the discovery of the method by means of which a case of typhoid fever can be diagnosed (before immunity has been established) by means of the reaction which the serum of such a patient will produce when brought in con- tact with a pure culture of typhoid bacilli must be associated with the name of Widal. The discovery of Widal consists in that, starting from a typical bacillus as a known quantity, he determined the nature of a doubtful case by the action which the serum of that case will have on the bacillus. All the previous observers used the serum of an immunised animal as their known quantity and considered that a high degree of immunity was an important element of diagnosis. It is true that the reaction was also proposed to test the potency of sera, but this was not proposed for the purpose of diagnosis of cases of typhoid fever. There were many points which it seemed to me desirable to settle before using Widal's method on a large scale. Soon after the beginning of this investigation I was for- tunate enough to obtain the friendly cooperation of Dr. E. J. Sidebotham, with whom I continued to make the observations to be recorded in my next communication. It will be unnecessary to describe here the plan of the investigation since the results obtained will sufficiently indicate what was aimed at. I may say, however, that after trying various methods I came early to the con- clusion that to obtain comparative results it was advan- tageous to proceed as follows. The finger of the patient is thoroughly cleaned and, if time permits, the skin carefully disinfected. A prick is made in the usual way with a sharp lancet-shaped needle so as to obtain two or three large drops of blood The patients show no objection whatever to this procedure. This blood is at once aspi- rated in a modified Pasteur's pipette the point of which has been kept sealed till then and is broken and sterilised just