Gonococcal Conjunctivitis Research Articles

PROPHYLACTIC VALUE OF SULFATHIAZOLE AGAINST NEONATAL GONOCOCCIC CONJUNCTIVITIS

There is still an appreciable incidence of neonatal gonococcic conjunctivitis in spite of legislation in forty-six of the United States requiring the instillation of silver compounds into the conjunctival sacs of every baby at birth.¹From 1938 through 1942, 222 cases were reported in the city of New York²and 562 cases in the state of New Jersey.³The total number of cases reported from 1939 through 1943 in the city of New York in the municipal hospitals alone was 126.⁴ An investigation was carried out in the service for newborn infants at Harlem Hospital in order to prove the value of sulfathiazole in the prevention of gonococcic conjunctivitis. The routine instillation of silver nitrate into the conjunctival sacs of newborn infants was supplemented with the oral administration of sulfathiazole. Beginning Feb. 1, 1943, sulfathiazole was given orally, as a prophylactic, to all babies born in

Chemotherapy in Acute Gonococcal Conjunctivitis

Chemotherapy in Acute Gonococcal Conjunctivitis

GONOCOCCIC CONJUNCTIVITIS

In the past few years so many articles have appeared in the ophthalmic journals concerning the treatment of gonococcic conjunctivitis with sulfanilamide that one hesitates to burden the literature with any further reports. However, considerable difference of opinion still exists as to the best method of using the drug. While most observers have used the sulfonamides orally, several have reported their experiences with the drugs used locally in the eye. Rein and Tibbetts¹employed a 0.5 per cent solution of sulfanilamide in physiologic solution of sodium chloride as an irrigation every fifteen minutes night and day. They reported good results in 15 cases, in which negative smears were obtained on an average of six and eight-tenths days. Panneton²has recently published an interesting account of treating this disease in 10 cases by the insufflation of the conjunctival sac with the powdered drug every three hours. In 8 he

Gonococcal conjunctivitis in children: A comparison of treatment with sulfanilamide and sulfapyridine,with a note on sulfathiazole

The results of treatment of sixty-two patients with gonorrheal conjunctivitisare reviewed. Of thirty patients who received sulfanilamide, 24 showed rapid recovery. Thirty-three patients, including four who failed to respond to sulfanilamide, received sulfapyridine. A rapid recovery was experienced by thirty-one. Three patients were treated with sulfathiazole; all responded promptly. Only one corneal ulcer developed, this being in a patient on sulfanilamide therapy. Reports on over forty-five cases of gonorrheal conjunctivitis treated with sulfapyridine have been collected from the literature. The results in these cases were comparable to those in the current series. The results of treatment of sixty-two patients with gonorrheal conjunctivitisare reviewed. Of thirty patients who received sulfanilamide, 24 showed rapid recovery. Thirty-three patients, including four who failed to respond to sulfanilamide, received sulfapyridine. A rapid recovery was experienced by thirty-one. Three patients were treated with sulfathiazole; all responded promptly. Only one corneal ulcer developed, this being in a patient on sulfanilamide therapy. Reports on over forty-five cases of gonorrheal conjunctivitis treated with sulfapyridine have been collected from the literature. The results in these cases were comparable to those in the current series.

Relation of Inclusion Biennorrhea to Swimming-Bath Conjunctivitis as Determined by an Accidental Transmission.

That the conjunctivitis of infants designated as inclusion biennorrhea is transmissible to the adult was first demonstrated by Wolfrum when he inoculated successfully 2 volunteers inducing what he considered to be trachoma. The diagnosis, however, based partially on the presence of inclusion bodies in the experimental disease and partially on his conviction of their specificity in trachoma, was not justified by the clinical manifestations. Gebb, on the other hand, also reporting successful transmission, concluded the condition resulting from the inoculation was not trachoma. There the matter remained until recently when Thygeson reported the results of his elaborately conducted and carefully controlled experiments in which material from infants with inclusion blennorrhea transferred to adults initiated not trachoma but swimming-bath conjunctivitis. During the course of experiments on inclusion blennorrhea in this laboratory, the opportunity was afforded to study the progress of an accidental transmission of this disease to an adult. While irrigating the eyes of an infant 11 days old, on the fifth day of suspected gonococcal conjunctivitis, some of the exudate was discharged into the left eye of the attending nurse. Despite immediate and vigorous lavage, a mild conjunctivitis was obvious on the following morning, when Dr. A. C. Lange was consulted. Because of the diagnosis in the case of the infant, optochine was prescribed, and on the fifth day the first appearance of small scattered follicles suggested a mistaken diagnosis in the case of the infant. Scrape smears of the conjunctiva stained by Wright or Gram showed neither inclusion bodies nor gonococci. On the sixth day, smears were repeated and numerous inclusions were found, but not gonococci. Smears made on the same day (11th) of the infant's conjunctiva likewise revealed inclusions without gonococci, thus justifying the diagnosis of inclusion blennorrhea.

Twenty Minutes' talk on Gonococcal Conjunctivitis

Twenty Minutes' talk on Gonococcal Conjunctivitis

RoLE OF THE GONOCOCCUS IN PURULENT OPHTHALMIA IN WARM CLIMATES

There are a few landmarks of clinical observation to be mentioned in considering the part played by the gonococcus in hot climates where trachoma is common or perhaps universal. The first was the recognition by Muller, in 1898, that the infiltration of the superficial layers of the cornea by trachomatous granulation tissue, or pannus, is a means of defense against damage of the cornea by ulceration caused by gonococcic conjunctivitis. The second was the observation made by Morax, in 1901, that there is no such condition as acute trachoma, and that acute signs occurring in a trachomatous subject are the result of a superimposed infection with gonococci or other known bacteria. It is probable, moreover, that the presence of trachomatous conjunctivitis predisposes the membrane to infection by gonococci, or, in other words, that the trachomatous conjunctiva provides an excellent culture medium for these organisms. It is to

Third Annual Report of the Giza Memorial Ophthalmic Laboratory, Cairo, 1928.

This report deals chiefly with studies of trachoma and gonococcal conjunctivitis. During the course of experimental work on monkeys, it was observed that follicles are frequently present in the normal conjunctiva of these animals. This condition is not trachoma, and never turns into it. It can be produced artificially by inoculation with a gram-negative bacillus, closely resembling that described by Noguchi, and which was isolated from cases of trachoma in human beings. During seven months, no corneal vascularization or scarring was observed. Acute trachoma, as described in other countries, never occurs in Egypt, acute exacerbations being due to a mixed infection. Prowazek and Lindner's bodies were encountered but rarely, and were considered to be of no etiologic significance. Serologic investigations were disappointing. The relative values of new and old remedies were investigated. In the case of chaulmoogra oil, which was rubbed into the conjunctiva, it was decided that: