MOUTH INFECTION AS A SOURCE OF SYSTEMIC DISEASE

Abstract

Cultures, from emulsified tissues in various systemic disorders, such as the adjacent lymphatic glands draining the involved joints in arthritis deformans, in acute articular rheumatism, and the lymph-glands in Hodgkin's disease, have yielded interesting results. One striking thing in connection with some of the more chronic infections is that the character of the micro-organisms found in the lesion may be quite different from the character of the micro-organisms in the focus of infection at the same time. This, however, does not minimize the importance of the focus of infection in any way. The organisms found in the tissues may have undergone change. This fact should be borne in mind whenever autogenous vaccines are to be used. The poor results in some cases of arthritis, for example, following the use of autogenous vaccines prepared from the tonsils or other presumable focus, may be due to the fact that the organisms present