HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by De Rivas, D. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by De Rivas, D.

A Further Contribution on the Treatment of Parasitic and Other Affections of the Intestine, by the "Intra-Intestinal Thermal Method"¹

The action of heat upon the life of protozoan and metazoan parasites and all forms of life in general is such that slight variations in temperature suffice to produce profound changes in their life history.

Thus, the human or bovine type of tubercle bacillus requires a constant temperature between 38° and 39°C. for its development in artificial culture; and a slight variation above or below this point arrests its growth. This probably explains why this type of tubercle bacilli are non-pathogenic and apparently harmless when inoculated into birds which have a temperature above 40°C. or when inoculated into cold-blooded animals that have a lower temperature than man and most mammals. The same is true of most pathogenic bacteria. The very interesting experiments carried on by Pasteur with anthrax bacillus clearly elucidates the importance of temperature in infection. Thus anthrax bacillus which is commonly pathogenic for man and most mammals, and non-pathogenic for birds can be successfully inoculated into hens by lowering their body temperature.

¹ Read before the Medical Association of Porto Rico, September, 1926, and the section of Parasitology of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Philadelphia, December, 1926.