Studies on Epidemic Influenza: Comprising Clinical and Laboratory InvestigationsUniversity of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine
History
Studies on Epidemic Influenza: Comprising Clinical and Laboratory Investigations
University of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine
Influenza; Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919
Various other methods have been used to bring about this beneficial
change in hemoglobin. Gioelli (1896) used a medium made up of 1.1 per
cent. hemoglobin and 21.5 per cent. malt extract. This is reddish brown
in color, becomes clear when neutralized with potassium hydrate and
remains so on heating. This added to agar is reported as very favorable
in growing this bacillus. Ghon and Preyss described a medium made up of
meat, peptone, salt and agar prepared in the ordinary way, but not
filtered for at least a week, and then only roughly. This medium is
favorable for symbiotic growths. He further used beef blood heated in a
soda solution and blood heated in water as hemoglobin preparations to be
added to agar. Thalhimer found an amorphous hemoglobin medium to be more
favorable than when a purer hemoglobin was used. W. F. Robertson found a
hemoglobin agar, prepared by allowing sheep’s blood to clot, decanting
off most of the serum, freezing and then thawing what remains and adding
1 c.c. of this to an agar tube at about 60° C., to be very favorable for
the growth of B. influenzæ. Cantani used a blood treated with pepsin and
hydrochloric acid, digested some days in the incubator, filtered and
made weakly alkaline. This mixture was heated for a few minutes,
refiltered and added to the medium. He speaks of it as extraordinarily
good for B. influenzæ. Blood treated with trypsin has been used by
Matthews, Averill, Young and Griffiths, Harris, A. Fleming and others.
Fleming further found that this alteration in hemoglobin can be brought
about in a number of other ways. Blood boiled in agar (suggesting the
Voges agar) and the tubes slanted while hot, blood boiled in water, the
clotted blood precipitated and the clear fluid added to agar, or more
rapidly by adding equal quantities of sulphuric acid to the blood and a
similar amount of potassium hydrate he obtained altered blood suitable
for media. He reported that by any of these methods he could obtain a
medium very stimulating to the growth of B. influenzæ. By the addition
of brilliant green (1 in 500,000) he inhibited the growth of
staphylococcus, streptococcus and pneumococcus. For storing cultures of
B. influenzæ Fleming found a minced meat medium with the addition of
blood to be the best. I have found this medium without the blood to be
an excellent one for keeping a great variety of cultures. Bernstein and
Loewe have reported the use of gentian violet (1 in 5,000) for the same
purpose as the brilliant green used by Fleming. Avery’s oleate blood
agar medium he reported to be largely selective. It checked the growth
of pneumococci and streptococci, but gave luxuriant growths of B.
influenzæ. Pritchett and Stillman have used it with excellent results
recovering B. influenzæ from a very high percentage of the cases
studied.
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