Vibrio

“ When we inject into the subcutaneous cellular tissue of a living animal a putrefied or septic liquid, that is, one containing those threadlike corpuscles known by the name of vibrios and bacteria, it sometimes happens that the animal experiences no inconvenience. Dogs particularly resist with vigor the poisonous influence of such a fluid, but the case is different with other species, and notably with rabbits. ”

“ Pasteur had already some years previously demonstrated that the animal body is sealed against the introduction of lower organisms—that in the blood, the urine, the muscles, the liver, the spleen, the kidneys, the brain, the marrow, and the nerves, in a normal state, no germ is found, or particle of any kind, known or unknown, which could be transformed into bacteria, vibrios, monads, or microbes. The intestinal canal alone is filled with matters associated with a host of germs and living products in process of development, and in divers states of physiological action. ”

“ Furthermore, they are not all alike, and it is only restricted classes of them that are really dangerous to man. One difference in their habits is worthy of special reference here. Air, or rather the oxygen of the air, which is absolutely necessary to the support of the bacteria of putrefaction, is absolutely deadly to the vibrios which provoke the butyric-acid fermentation. This is most simply illustrated by the following beautiful observation of Pasteur: You know the way of looking at these small organisms through the microscope. ”

“ And the extraordinary thing is that among the microbes of special maladies—which they produce by penetrating and multiplying in the bodies of animals—are to be found aerobies like the bacilli of splenic fever, and anaerobies like the vibrios of acute septicæmia. ”

“ In just what manner the germ of consumption gains entrance to the human body, we are more or less uncertain, but there are reasons for the belief that in many instances they pass in by means of the inhaled air; there is no doubt that in a small percentage of cases the bacillus gains entrance to the body through an abrasion of the skin or of some mucous membrane; finally the bacteria are [Pg 182] often taken in with the foods that we eat, or by putting objects upon which the germs are present into the mouth, or eating with hands which have been contaminated and not washed. ”

“ By some scientists, digestion is regarded as a species of fermentation, probably due to the action of lifeless ferments; e.g. sucrose cannot be taken into the system, but is first fermented to glucose.
334. Most Infectious Diseases are now thought to be due to parasites of various kinds, such as bacteria, microbes, etc., with which the victim often swarms, and which feed on his tissues, multiplying with enormous rapidity. Such diseases are small-pox, intermittent and yellow fevers, etc. Consumption, or tuberculosis, is believed to be caused by a microbe which destroys the lungs. ”

“ We have only to suppose that the pathogenic bacteria, when growing as parasites in man, produce such poisons, and we have at once an explanation of the method by which they give rise to disease.
This explanation of germ disease is more than simple theory. It has been in many cases clearly demonstrated. It has been found that the bacteria which cause diphtheria, tetanus, typhoid, tuberculosis, and many other diseases, produce, even when growing in common culture media, poisons which are of a very violent nature. ”

“ The local phenomena of inflammation usually follow the introduction of living bacteria into the tissues, and general symptoms of poisoning follow later, when the bacteria, toxins, or ptomains, have entered the circulation. Some bacteria, however, excite no local reaction, but enter the circulation at once. The pyogenic variety, it should be noted, cause the production of pus.
Elimination. Bacteria can be eliminated from the blood in several ways; the kidneys, however, are the organs which carry the burden of most frequently relieving the body of them. ”

“ If a patient is struggling under the influence of the pneumococcus, Eberth's bacillus, Koch's cholera microbe or the pus-producing germs which give rise to erysipelatous inflammation, his kidneys laboring to undo, so far as possible, the mischief done by the invading parasites, by eliminating the poisons formed by them, what good could possibly be accomplished by the administration of a drug, one of the characteristic effects of which is to diminish renal activity, thereby diminishing also the quantity of poisons eliminated through this channel? ”

“ Naturally the first and most important question to engage my attention was that relating to the specific infectious agent, or "germ," which there was every reason to believe must be found in the bodies of infected individuals. Was this germ present in the blood, as in the case of relapsing fever; or was it to be found in the organs and tissues which upon post-mortem examination give evidence of pathological changes, as in typhoid fever, pneumonia, and diphtheria; or was it to be found in the alimentary canal, as in cholera and dysentery? ”

“ We have the action of the bacteria themselves, and also of their products or toxins. In particular diseases, now one and now the other property comes to the front. In bacterial diseases affecting or being transmitted mostly by the blood, it is the toxins which act chiefly. The convenient term infection is applied to those conditions in which there has been a multiplication of living organisms after they have entered the body, the word intoxication indicating a condition of poisoning brought about by their products. ”

“ Methods of fighting Germ Diseases.—As we have seen, diseases produced by bacteria may be caused by the bacteria being directly transferred from one person to another, or the disease may obtain a foothold in the body from food, water, or by taking them into the blood through a cut or a wound or a body opening.
It is evident that as individuals we may each do something to prevent the spread of germ diseases, especially in our homes. We may keep our bodies, especially our hands and faces, clean. ”

“ Among the infectious diseases known to be due to specific germs are the following: typhoid, typhus, relapsing fevers, cholera, diphtheria, croup, tuberculosis, pneumonia, malaria, yellow fever, erysipelas, septicæmia, anthrax, tetanus, gonorrhea, etc.; and among the infectious diseases the germs of which have not as yet been discovered are the following: scarlet fever, measles, smallpox, syphilis, varicella, etc.
The part of the body and the organs in which the [Pg 239] germs first find their entrance, or which they specifically attack, vary with each disease ”

“ The most important congenital infections are syphilis, gonorrhœa, tuberculosis, variola, typhoid, pyogenic infection, tetanus, measles, scarlatina, influenza, meningitis, malaria, recurrent fever, pneumococcus, colon bacillus and others, mostly very rare. ”

“ Further, that a number of our most dangerous disease germs, like the typhoid bacillus, the bacillus of tuberculosis, and the bacillus of diphtheria, have almost perfect "doubles," law-abiding relatives, so to speak, among the germs that normally inhabit our throats, our intestines, or our immediate surroundings. The ultimate foundation question of the science of bacteriology is, How did the disease germs become disease germs? ”

“ When these new vessels are formed, if they are not reabsorbed into the circulation, they secrete a new fluid called purulent matter; which generally opens itself a passage on the external skin, and produces an ulcer, which either gradually heals, or spreads, and is the cause of hectic fever; or they secrete contagious matter, which has the property of exciting the same kind of inflammation, and of producing the same kind of contagious matter, when inserted by inoculation into the skin of other persons. ”

“ For if the disease germ be thrown out, nothing will be able to enter into the blood. To take a simile from modern medicine, we know that there must be two causes to produce a disease, some poison germ outside, and the state of the body. ”

“ The genito-urinary tract furnishes a portal of entrance into the body for such germs as those of gonorrhea, syphilis and tuberculosis, either by direct contact or through intermediary agents. Infection of the body is by means of some of these entry channels which differ with the different bacteria. The bacteria may be entirely innocent when entering one part of the body, yet when they enter through some other portal they may be considered pathogenic. In other words, some germs will thrive in one part of the body but not in some other part. ”

“ Infection by the genito-urinary surface is comparatively rare. The surface openings are usually closed, and the discharge of urine has a mechanical cleansing effect. The wide tube of the vagina is further protected by a normal bacterial flora which produces conditions hostile to other and pathogenic bacteria. The most common infections are the sexual diseases, which are due to organisms which find favorable conditions for growth in and on the surface and which are conveyed from a similar surface by sexual contact. ”

“ It is thinner than that of chronic bronchitis, and upon standing separates into three layers of pus, mucus, and frothy serum. It contains great numbers of miscellaneous bacteria.
4. Gangrene of the Lung.—The sputum is abundant, fluid, very offensive, and brownish in color. It separates into three layers upon standing—a brown deposit, a clear fluid, and a frothy layer. Microscopically, few cells of any kind are found. Bacteria are extremely numerous; among them may sometimes be found an acid-fast bacillus probably identical with the smegma bacillus. ”

“ There is evidence that a _mixed infection_--that is, the introduction of more than one species of organism, for example, the tubercle bacillus and a pyogenic staphylococcus--increases the severity of the resulting disease. If one of the varieties gain the ascendancy, the poisons produced by the others so devitalise the tissue cells, and diminish their power of resistance, that the virulence of the most active organisms is increased. ”

“ It is also accounted for by the germicidal properties of the blood serum.
The resistance of the tissues may in some cases be due to the absence from them of some particular element necessary to the growth of a particular microorganism. This refractoriness varies in every species of animal in its relation to every form of germ. Different individuals of one species also vary in their susceptibility, and even different parts of the body vary in the same individual. The lower animals offer a greater resistance to pyogenic bacteria than do human beings. ”

“ The qualitative discrimination of the bacteria present in dust has resulted in the discovery of, amongst other disease germs, the consumption bacillus, the lock-jaw or tetanus bacillus, bacteria associated with diphtheria, typhoid fever, pulmonary affections, and various septic processes. ”

“ The germ which causes this fever has generally been supposed to be the bacillus of Eberth. More recent bacteriological studies rather indicate that the bacillus coli may also cause the disease. These germs are usually carried into the body in food or drink, and, lodging in the small intestines, begin to grow and multiply, and by their life produce poisonous ptomaines which are absorbed and carried by the circulation to all the organs and tissues of the body. ”

“ The urine may be red, the fæces covered with mucus, or blood streaked, and the rectal mucosa of a violet tinge, or blackish and blood gorged. 206In this the vulvar mucosa often participates. Local swellings may appear in the tongue or pharynx, even if not on the surface, or colics indicate implication of the digestive organs. The examination of the blood early reveals the presence of the bacillus, and as the disease advances, its black, incoagulable, tarry, or coffee-grounds appearance becomes characteristic. Pregnant animals are liable to abort. Death occurs in 12 to 48 hours. ”

“ If, however, we are not in good health, if we are just recovering from some serious or depressing disease, such as Grippe, the bacteria will overcome our reserve vitality, and consumption will graft itself on our weakened system. [Pg 410]
How do these germs work?
They lodge on some part of the lung tissue and burrow into it. They make a nest for themselves and begin work immediately. They live on the lung tissue, they multiply rapidly, they produce—as a result of their activity—a poisonous substance. ”

“ It is apparent that the body possesses two possible distinct ways of freeing itself of these bacteria: it might remove them through the excretory organs—the kidneys or liver; it might rid itself of them by destroying them inside the body. It was with the rise of modern bacteriology that proof was brought that the blood and certain other body fluids—peritoneal, pleural, pericardial transudates—possess a remarkable power of destroying bacteria. ”

“ It may be that one or other of these germs in a given outbreak, shows a predominance in potency so that the symptoms are more characteristic of it than of its companion; it may be that the more potent germ kills the victim, quickly by an acute septicæmia and gross lesions that would apply almost as well to one germ as to the other; or it may be that both act moderately and the attack is protracted with resulting lesions in both lungs and bowels that respectively suggest the plague and the cholera. ”

“ This is a highly infectious disease, affecting children primarily and is characterized by the formation of membranous exudates in the throat and air passages, which are teeming with the causal organism, the diphtheria bacillus. This organism is capable of forming highly toxic products, and it is to the effect of these poisons that its fatal result is generally due. The organism is thrown out from the body, in the main, through the mouth, the surroundings of the patient being infected directly from the air, and indirectly, by contact with polluted hands, lips, etc. ”