Medicine: Scarlet Fever

The Government last week knew of 6,070 cases of scarlet fever in the country. This incidence was not large enough to worry about, but enough to warrant warnings. Scarlet fever was fatal to every 78th victim two years ago. Providently the purse-pinched National Institute of Health had been working on a new preventive of the disease and was able last week to announce it.

The material is a toxoid. The standard method of preparing scarlet fever antitoxin has been to infect a horse with the disease and let his blood manufacture the antitoxin. Although useful, this antitoxin occasionally causes sharp reactions, is unpleasant to use.

The National Institute of Health makes its toxoid by treating live scarlet fever bacilli with formalin and heat. After standing two months the germs lose their virulence, form with the antitoxin a bland but adequate protection against scarlet fever.