Studies in spirillum obermeierei and related organisms / Frederick G. Novy and R.E. Knapp.

  • Novy, Frederick G. (Frederick George), 1864-1957
Date:
[1906?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Studies in spirillum obermeierei and related organisms / Frederick G. Novy and R.E. Knapp. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    81/122 (page 369)
    It will be seen that the methods of passive and active immuniza- tion can be combined into a prophylactic measure which will assure man a perfect and lasting protection against the disease. This vaccination will be as positive as that against small-pox. To secure this protection it will be necessary to receive, first, an injection of the immune serum (one to two units per gram of body-weight), and then, on the second and fourth days injections of spirillar blood. The active immunity which is thus induced in experimental animals is known to persist for several months, and without doubt it could be increased so as to last for a year or more. A combined curative and preventive treatment will undoubtedly be found to be efficacious in the human disease. If only rat serum is employed, at most a very unsatisfactory procedure on account of the smallness of the animal, the quantity would hardly be suf- ficient to cure an attack. Thus, the dose for a 75 kg. man, corre- sponding to that used for Monkey No. 1, would be 750 c.c. or about 375 c.c. of serum. While the use of so large an amount of fluid is out of question it should be remembered that the strength of the serum used by no means represents the maximum obtainable. It is quite certain that one can be obtained which will be 10 times as strong, and with such the dose would be but 37.5 c.c., a quantity which is easily tolerated. On the two-unit basis the dose of such a serum would be but 15 c.c. Even stronger sera than this are pos- sible, which, of course, would still further decrease the dose needed to cure an attack and at the same time protect against a relapse. For this purpose, as shown heretofore, at least five units per gram of body-weight are necessary. The dose as mentioned is sufficient to cause the almost immediate disappearance of the organisms from the circulation. As rapid a result as this may not be desirable in the treatment of man, owing to the possible danger of thrombosis due to the agglutination of large numbers of spirilla. Smaller doses, repeated every hour or two, will probably be preferable to the use of a single large dose. The injection of about two units per gram of body-weight, repeated once or twice in the course of the day will probably offer the safest procedure. The preventive dose for a 75 kg. man, corresponding to that