Papers Presented at Symposium on Diarrheal Diseases Other Than Amebiasis Joint Meeting of The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and The American Academy of Tropical Medicine Louisville, Kentucky November 12–14, 1953

Abstract

The problem of acute diarrheal disease is closely analogous to that of the weather. We've learned how to live with weather. In many cases we have found ways of protecting ourselves against weather and we are still actively exploring other possibilities for modifying ourselves and our environment so that we can develop coexistence to a high degree. Similarly, diarrheal diseases are progressively better understood and consequently we are better protected than ever before. The group of papers is presented as one way of looking at the problem of those “diarrheal diseases other than amebiasis.” The papers themselves illustrate a stage in the acquisition of useful knowledge about particular disease agents. Two major groups of micro-organisms have been recognized as important agents for the production of these diseases in man: the genus “Shigella” and the genus “Salmonella,” respectively. In addition to these known parasites there is evidence which suggests to me that other bacteria and other viruses cause disease in man whose predominant symptom is diarrhea.