PENICILLIN FOR SCARLET FEVER

Abstract

Almost from the moment penicillin became available for therapeutic purposes its value in the treatment of streptococcic infections was acknowledged.¹For that reason we believed it desirable to determine if penicillin would be an efficient agent in the treatment of scarlet fever. We considered that it ought to be helpful in combating scarlet fever regardless of whether the disease was mild or severe. Consequently, during the past fourteen months we have used penicillin as an exclusive therapeutic agent for 116 patients with scarlet fever. Since beginning our observations on the action of penicillin in scarlet fever, Meads, Flipse, Barnes and Finland²have published a report concerning 9 patients with scarlet fever who were treated with penicillin. Ashley³stated recently that the treatment of choice for scarlet fever consists in giving both convalescent scarlet fever serum and penicillin. But on the basis of past experience we believe equally