Results In the Treatment of Meningococcic Meningitis with Antitoxin and Sulfonamide Drugs

Abstract

Summary An over-all mortality rate of 13.2 per cent was obtained in 309 patients treated with a combination of sulfonamide drugs and antitoxin. A corrected mortality rate of 8.8 per cent was obtained when we excluded those patients who were dead on arrival or who were moribund and died within forty-eight hours. This mortality rate of 8.8 per cent would be even less (that is 7.6 per cent) if we would exclude such patients as actually died from some other conditions although the latter were initiated by the infection itself. In general practice, physicians should strive for the same low mortality rate as obtained by the military, but it must be remembered that the civilian patient may be of any age and have an underlying pathologic condition which makes recovery almost impossible.