A preliminary study of the anophelines of the Chefang valley and their relation to malaria has already been published (1). The present paper is a study of natural infection and seasonal prevalence of Anopheles mosquitoes in Chefang and its vicinity.
The endemic areas of clonorchiasis include essentially all of China except the Northwest, Japan, Korea and Info-China (1). In China the heavy human infections are confined to Kwangtung Province and, to a certain extent, also Kwangsi Province (2). The most important single factor which determines the incidence of human infection lies in the habit of eating raw fish among the inhabitants of the endemic areas.
Grieff, Pinkerton and Moragues (1) first demonstrated in 1944 that Para-aminobenzoic acid was effective in inhibiting the growth of R. prowazeki and R. mooseri in yolk sacs. In the ensuing year, Anigstein and Badar (2) observed that the drug was potent against experimental spotted fever (R. ricketsii). Murray, Zarafonetis and Snyder(3) and Snyder and Zarafonetis(4) also found that experimental infections with R. orientalis were amenable to the same drug when given simultaneously by the oral-as well as the parenteral routes. Hamilton (5) made observations on the mode of action of para-aminobenzoic acid on rickettsiae and elementary bodies. Clinically para-aminobenzoic acid has recently been found to be effective in the treatment of spotted fever patients (6) as well as cases of murine (7, 8) and epidemic typhus (9). The present report deals with some observations on the effects of the drug on 24 typhus patients in Peiping where both louse-borne typhus and flea-borne typhus occur (10-15).
The usefulness of the Weil-Felix test in the diagnosis. of typhus fever is well known. The time for the appearance and disappearance of a positive reaction of this test of the sera of febrile patients is therefore a matter of considerable interest to the clinicians. During a two-year period from March 1946 to March 1948, the sera of 30 typhus fever patients with typical symptoms, signs (including rash) and course of the disease were studied daily, so far as possible, to observe the rise and fall of the B. proteus Ox19 agglutinin titre during fever and convalescence. Study of the sera was started on or soon after the day when the patients entered the hospital and was continued until they were discharged. To obtain daily blood specimens for study, however, was not always easy. Even the most tactful and eloquent persuation often failed to secure the consent and cooperation of the patients, who often left the hospital as soon as the fever subsided. These facts account for the blank periods without blood specimens available for test.
Pneumococcal pericarditis is one of the most dreadful complications of lobar pneumonia and pneumococcal septicemia. It frequently occurs as a terminal episode of pneumococcal infection. Its grave prognosis-- a mortality varying between 50 to 100% (1-4)--had been repeatedly emphasized in the old literature.
In the December, 1948 number of the C.M.J. just received, Dr. Chieh Sung reports two cases of death in infants following intrathecal injection of Penicillin and he states "Reports of convulsions resulting from the intrathecal use of Penicillin are still lacking from this part of the world." In view of this, we wish to report the following fatality as a warning to others.
That streptomycin is an effective antibiotic possessing strong bacteridal action against many species of gram-positive, gram-negative, and acid-fast bacteria in vitro, in experimental animals and in human infections, is a well-established fact. In view of the close biological relationship between Brucella tularensis, which is very sensitive to streptomycin, and Pasteurella pestis, Herbert (1) tested the effect of streptomycin in experimental plague infections in mice and guinea pigs, a report of which appeared in 1947.
The gastro-intestinal tract fromfthe stomach down to the rectum may be ruptured at any point by non-penetrating violence, the small iptestine probably being ruptured more frequently than the stomach and the Jarge intestine. Accidents in eivilian life from the automobiles and heavy industries as well as in modern warfare from underwater blasts (1) produce innumerable intra-abdominal injuries. In these cases early diagnosis is of paramount importance, and their mortality can be greatly rpduced if operation is performed at the easrliest possible moment. The following two cases may serve as illustrations.
Epistaxis is a very common occurence in a busy otolaryngologic clinic. As to its etiology many causes have been attributed and mentioned in the text-books of Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases. However, bleeding from para nasal sinuses is a rarity. It is usually of traumatic in origin either operative or accidental.
Congenital deformities of the skeletal system may take a number of forms and the commonly met ones are familiar. While syndactylism, supernumerary toes, and absence of toes of the foot are commonly recorded in textbooks, macrodactyly or giantism of toes are only oaacasionally mentioned.
Lithopedion is rare, and likely to be even more so in the future, because the conditions required for its formation will no longer be present as clinical medicine makes further progress towards accurate diagnosis and early surgical intervention of ectopic gestation. However, in China there will still be chances of encountering this unusual pathological specimen, for the fact that reluctancy to undergo surgical treatment re- mains as a factor favourable to the development of Lithopedion. It is hoped that more cases will be reported in the future if enough interest is aroused in the subject. It is for this purpose, that a comprehensive review of the subject is presented together with the report of a typical case of Lithopedion which represents several characteristic features.
English Summaries of Articles Published in the National Medical Journal of China
