Medicine: Capsules, Jul. 3, 1972

Among the research findings reported by the A.M.A. last week:

> One of the most rewarding medical advances of the 1950s was the finding that heart damage from rheumatic fever could usually be averted if repeated attacks of strep throat were prevented by long-term use of penicillin. A particular type of streptococcus sets up a reaction that attacks the heart's muscle and especially its valves. That, said Tulane University's Dr. George Burch, seems to be only part of the story. Viruses, a thousand times smaller than strep bacilli, are also involved, and in heart...