STREPTOCOCCUS CONVALESCENT SERUMS (SCARLATINAL): THE POTENTIALITIES OF TYPE-SPECIFIC POOLS

Of the various streptococcus antiserums that have been employed to date, scarlet fever antitoxin and pooled convalescent scarlet fever serum have found the greatest favor clinically. Since the rise in popularity of these serums, precise classification of the streptococci has been achieved by serologic methods. Hemolytic streptococci of human origin have been classified by Griffith into thirty known types, of which twenty-six are included in Lancefield's group A while four fall into groups C and G. It has been shown by Green,1 Bailey,2 White,3 Keogh,4 Allison5 and de Waal6 that certain serologic types usually predominate in an epidemic of scarlet fever. Many of the types associated with clinical scarlet fever are proficient in producing erythrogenic toxin and as a result commercial scarlatina antitoxin, which has a high neutralizing titer, has become more and more popular in the treatment of this disease. Some immunologists feel