The Specific Treatment of Lobar Pneumonia

Serum therapy revisited: animal models of infection and development of passive antibody therapy

“…Initial dosages varied with the study and the serum preparation used and ranged from 20,000 to 200,000 units per day (16, 21-23, 42, 56, 72, 84, 90). The dosage used was based on the severity of infection, the presence of bacteremia, the day of disease at which therapy was begun, and the response to initial therapy (4,23,83). Appropriate dosages were also estimated by measuring the agglutination titer of.the patient's serum after serum administration (16,84,90).…”

In 2035, will all bacteria be multidrug resistant? We are not sure

“…We are only just starting to learn about alteration of our microbiota for the management of infectious diseases, and our knowledge and manipulation of microbial interactions and communication in biofilms remain limited [9]. Immune modulator or biotherapy was demonstrated to have a major therapeutic effect in the preantibiotic era, yet further advances have been limited over the past century [10]. Indeed, a wide range of other nonantibiotic approaches have also been investigated [11].…”

New Antibacterials?

“…In addition, one of the first 'true' clinical trials demonstrated a mortality reduction with serum therapy for diphtheria compared with standard therapy (eight of 239 [3%] versus 30 of 245 [12%]; P<0.001) (11,12). Serum therapy for pneumococcal pneumonia was also found to reduce mortality to 21% from 31% (RR 0.67; 95% CI 0.60 to 0.75) (13), and intrathecal serum therapy was found to be effective for pneumococcal meningitis (14). However, this therapy was associated with a 10% rate of serum sickness, which led to its abandonment once penicillin became available.…”