The diagnostics and treatment of tropical diseasesStitt, E. R. (Edward Rhodes)
Science
The diagnostics and treatment of tropical diseases
Stitt, E. R. (Edward Rhodes)
Tropical medicine
_Circulatory System._—The pulse is rapid and feeble in the stage
of evacuation to become imperceptible in the algid stage. The
circulation is practically at a standstill so that only a few drops
of black tarry blood, which does not coagulate readily, flow from
a wound of a vein when giving an intravenous injection. The blood
is concentrated and has a specific gravity of 1072 to 1078. The
systolic pressure falls greatly, even to 60 mm. of mercury in a
severe, or 75 mm. in a less serious case. The red cell count is
increased to 7 or 8 million red cells per c.mm. and the leucocyte
count reaches 15,000 to 50,000.
_Nervous System._—The mind is clear, even when the patient seems
profoundly apathetic. The muscle cramps are characteristic of the
disease.
DIAGNOSIS
=Clinical Diagnosis.=—It is customary to state that cholera
nostras and infections with virulent meat poisoning bacteria of the
paratyphoid group show bile in the intestinal discharges and not the
typical rice-water stools of true cholera. It must be remembered
that these affections can at times show as marked muscular cramps,
emaciation, cyanosis and weak voice as cholera so that only the
bacteriological examination can differentiate.
Algid pernicious malaria generally shows a rather high axillary
temperature and the stools are rarely so profuse as in cholera.
In ptomaine or mushroom poisoning the vomiting usually precedes the
diarrhoea—the opposite of the order in cholera.
Acute intestinal obstructions may simulate but here we have faecal
vomiting and constipation.
With irritant poisons as arsenic or antimony there is the metallic
taste and the pains are chiefly colicky rather than muscular and
the stools rather dysenteric.
I have seen severe cases of bacillary dysentery which could not
be differentiated clinically from cholera, and it is interesting
to note that many cases of cholera occurring in the Balkan war
were diagnosed as bacillary dysentery. In children cerebral
manifestations are very common so that in the Philippines many such
cholera cases were diagnosed as meningitis.
=Laboratory Diagnosis.=—Agglutination is the practical aid in
diagnosis. The serum from cholera convalescents, or those vaccinated
against cholera, show agglutinins. It has been stated that properly
vaccinated cases show a titre of from 1 to 2 thousand in about
70% of cases. Normal human serum does not agglutinate in a higher
dilution than 1 to 20. Greig has found that fatal cholera cases
rarely give higher than 1 to 40. In cases recovering he found
well-marked agglutinating power by the 6th day, titres of 1 to 500
or 1 to 1000 being frequently obtained. Janoue and Watanabe found
the agglutinating power of the sera of convalescents to fall rapidly
after the third week. As a rule the titre varied from 1 to 100 to 1
to 400. The highest titre noted was 1 to 10,000.
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