Ulcerative Colitis
In patients who recovered, crisis and improvement were preceded by an increase of lymphocytes and eosinophils, and spirochaetes persisted in the fatal cases.
Abstract
persisted in the fatal cases. In patients who recovered, crisis and improvement were preceded by an increase of lymphocytes and eosinophils. At that time specific antiserum was not available and convalescent serum was used for treatment. The diagnosis was confirmed by guinea-pig inoculation. Animals inoculated with the blood taken during the first three to four days became infected with the typical signs of Weil's disease, and spirochaetes were found in the organs eight to ten days later. The patients' blood subsequently became free from spirochaetes, but they were shown to be present in the urine by means of guinea-pig inoculation. This seems to be of importance from the epidemic point of view, and I remember an isolated case in which the clinical diagnosis was catarrhal jaundice. The injection of the patient's urine into guinea-pigs after his recovery proved that he had in fact been suffering from Weil's disease and was still excreting spirochaetes. Spirochaetes have been found in the urine as long as one hundred days after recovery from the disease.-I am, etc.,