Recent Clinical Features of Bacillary Dysentery.

Abstract

1) The mortality rate of bacillary dysentery was remarkably reduced in recent years. This was partly attributed to the progress of chemotherapy and to a relative decrease of infections caused by Shigella dysenteriae in the total group of bacillary dysentery. The importance of' gradually increasing mild infections was likewise taken into consideration.
2) The author described an epidemic in a board. All the boarders were found uniformly exposed to infection. They were submitted to rectoscopy, regardless of their clinical symptoms. Of the 39 cases thus examined, only 5 had normal mucous membrane. In all the remaining cases, more or less distinct changes were observed. Only 19 cases of the latter group were associated with clinical symptoms of dysentery.
3) Rectoscopic investigations of so-called healthy carriers revealed in 3/4 of the cases more or less apparent dysenteric changes. This suggests, that a considerable number of so-called healthy carriers represents mild dysentery cases with slight lesionsin the rectum, in spite of the absence of definite clinical disorders.