WAR ON GERMS

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 31, 6 August 1923, Page 4

WAR ON GERMS

JA MOMENTOUS DISCOVERY

NEW METHOD OF INOCULATION

A very important advance in the treatment of consumption and other forms of tuberculosis was announced by Professor G. Dreyer, of Oxford- University, in the course of a special lecture delivered at the Institute of Pathology and Research, attached to St. Mary's Hospital, .. London, states a medical -correspondent *'- of. the "Daily Telegraph. 1' This, indeed, practically amounts to a new method of treating tuberculosis and many other "• diseases due to infection by germs, the " basis of this latest method being aii immensely more efficacious system of inoculation than- has hitherto been known.

Before a distinguished audience of medical men and women keenly interested in scientific research, Dr. Dreyer, who is a Professor of Bacteriology at Oxford, detailed the line of thought that led him .to the momentous discovery he had to announce. Starting from the admitted facts that, whereas in a few instances, such as tho prevention of typhoid fever, inoculation has given us excellent results, yet in the case of many other infections the effects of vaccine injections have been •uncertain, and often disappointing, an endeavour was made to find out just why some germs lent them- ■ selves so readily to the preparation of a successful vaccine and others not. In this field of research, as the result of nuumerable experiments and much laborious testings, success has been finally ■•aohieved. STRIPPING THE GERM. The point at issue is a highly technical one, but it may be colloquially regarded as being an affair of protective covering on the part of our germ enemies. Every germ, however minute, has a "coat," and the new work has ■ shown'that that coat contains some subletaiice that prevents the natural defensive mechanism of tho body from destroying it. The next step was to discover the nature of the protective covering; S.nd here again success rewarded the patience of Dr. Dreyer and his assistants, ■for they havo been able to show that this is of a fatty nature. ' In a word, then, the fatter the germ the more danigerous it may be, and the more diffiicult to make a vaccine preparation from V—a vaccine being that solution of dead £«rms which is injected into tho body ' w the hope that it will stimulate the blood to form substances destructive of . live germs of the samo' kind that have attacked any particular individual Professor Droyer then argued that if te could by some means remove the fat Irom the "coate" of the germs he would make them fa.r more amenable to vaccine preparation; in other words, if he could kill the germs and then reduce them from fat (dead) germs to thin (dead) germs he would be able to produce a vaccine of enormously increased power as compared to those hitherto used. _ The 'story of how this was accomplished is one of consummate technical method; it suffices to say that a way has been found of making fat germs thin—the result of the process being called an "antigen"—and then using them with advantages hoped for. One of the most remarkable features of this research has been that, after the initial discovery about the fat in the mi- ...; cK>.b.e, and,- the part,jti;pjayed in protection; -=th.c predictions" made about a very powerful inoculation method being-with-in sight have come true. It has been prediction proved by exepriment, rather than djscr>very unexpectedly following research. s REMARKABLE RESULTS. Now for results. It has been proved beyond doubt that the preparations now possible have remarkable curative, value in certain animals suffering from tuberculosis; and not only with tuberculosis, „ but with many other infections, including anthrax, have successes been obtained. Moreover, the field of investigation and successful result has now been transferred from the laboratory to the hospital with most encouraging results. Some sixty cases or more of tuberculosis of various parts of the body —lungs (consumption), skin, internal .. organs, and so forth—have been recently under this new .treatment at the London Hospital, and it is reported that the uniformity of improvement shown has been very remarkable. In one group, selected particularly, on account of the duration of the tuberculous malady and its intractibility to treatment in each - patient, it has been found that a steady improvement has occurred throughout. ,We may, indeed, be on the verge of a real anej manageable method of curing tuberculosis by inoculation; tho outlook is extraordinarily hopeful at the moment. '"But, in view of hopes that have been prematurely raised in the past by successes that seemed to point the way to a conquest of this scourge, it behoves ,U8 to be cautious in regard to this new method. Professor Dreyer himself, whilst admittedly most hopeful, is tho first to-advise caution, and to utter a warning that however successful at present, the method is one that can only bo used by highly skilled experts, and certainly cannot yet be placed in the • bands of the general physician or family doctor. If successful in one form of infectious disease it is certainly to be anticipated that the new treatment will be equally successful in many other widespread maladies for which we now .have no cure. MEDICAL MEN'S REPORT. Tho cases at the London Hospital have been under the observation o£ Dr. inkles and Dr. Western, ,-md their report to Dr. Dreyer is as follows:—"Wo have j under treatment with' Drover's antigen' •sixty cases of tuberculosis. Among these are 36 cases of tuberculous adenitis, eleven cases of cutaneous tuberculosis, four cases of pulmonary tuber- . tulosis, both active pryrexial and apyrexial, three cases of joi'ut and bone tuberculosis, ono case of peritonitis, one tase of tuberculosis of the urinary tract, one case of iridocyclitis, and three ■cases of epididymitis. Most o£ these cases have been under our personal • observation for considerable periods, up to five years, and have .been selected fur treatment as having shown little improvement under treatment with tuberculin B.E. (Koch). Improvement has taken place in nearly all cases, and is, in our opinion, of an order which exceeds 'obviously that obtainable by- any other lorm of treatment which is applicable ' to these • conditions. We have not ob-, served any toxic effect following on tho inoculations. With regard to the effect of these antigens on other bacterial infections, we have treated six cases of streptococcal infection, such as septicaemia, 'erysipelas,, and osteomyelitis, seventeen cases of staphylpcoceal infections, such as sycosis barbae, furuncolosis, etc., and five cases of gonorrhoea] infection. Undoubtedly^ iho . course-, of the disease in many of these cases lias'j been satisfactory as compared with previous experience with vtieeine-t-rctltod cases. The issue, however, h;is not always been so straightforward; and therefore au opinion based on three 'weeks' experience! must bb more reserved.. In due corn-so a detailed 'account of these cases will bo published.".