The Animal Parasites of ManFantham, Harold Benjamin
Science
The Animal Parasites of Man
Fantham, Harold Benjamin
Medical parasitology
In the large intestine of infected cats the amœbæ creep over the
epithelium, and here and there they force the epithelial cells
apart, as well as removing them or pushing them in front of them;
the amœbæ thus insert themselves into the narrowest fissures. They
penetrate also into the glands through the epithelium, and thence
into the connective tissue of the mucosa. Intestinal and glandular
epithelia perish under the influence of these parasites: the cells
are pushed aside, fall to pieces or are absorbed by the amœbæ. In the
connective tissue of the mucosa the amœbæ migrate further, and often
accumulate above the muscles. Finally they rupture this and force
their way into the submucosa. In cats, apparently, the penetration
is not so great as in men, according to Kruse and Pasquale. During
their migration the parasites also gain access to the lymph-follicles
of the wall of the intestine, which become swollen and commence
to suppurate; follicular abscesses arise and after their rupture
follicular ulcers. The diseased patches in the mucosa are markedly
hyperæmic and numerous hæmorrhages are set up. Roos and Harris state
that the amœbæ also penetrate into the blood-vessels (fig. 7) and
this explains the occurrence of metastatic abscesses.[15] The whole
submucosa is severely swollen at the diseased spot and undergoes
small-celled infiltration in the neighbourhood of the colonies of
amœbæ. From these findings Jürgens (1902) draws the conclusion[16]
which is followed here, that the amœbæ are causative agents of the
enteritis of cats, which disease is well defined, both pathologically
and anatomically. Subsequent researches confirm the experience of
earlier authors; great precautions were taken to exclude errors,
hence, as with Gross and Harris, no exception can be taken to their
results. The inoculation material was derived from soldiers who
suffered from amœbic enteritis in China and who were admitted into
the garrison hospital at Berlin. In order to be independent of the
patients themselves, transmission experiments from cat to cat were
performed, after the first experiments on cats yielded positive
results. This was also effected by rectal feeding as employed by
earlier workers. Such appeared necessary in order to prevent the
evacuation of the inoculation material _per anum_, as well as to
avoid the employment of morphia and ether narcosis. Forty-six cats
were used for the experiments. Ten cats received tested stools
containing motile amœbæ from soldiers suffering from amœbic enteritis
contracted in China. Sixteen other cats received stools from cats
infected by inoculation. All the animals sickened and suffered from
the disease. Five cats received dejecta from human amœbic enteritis
in which, however, no _motile_ amœbæ were present. Thirteen cats
received stools from soldiers who suffered from bacillary dysentery.
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