Abstract
SEVERE reactions occurred in no less than 77 per cent. of cases of meningitis, treated with Flexner's serum, which lived for nine days or longer. The intrathecal injection of serum, however, must not be regarded as more liable to cause serum rashes than the subcutaneous method, and an undue percentage of serum reactions must be attributed to peculiarities in the horses used to supply the serum. It is important to distinguish the prodromal fever which often precedes these rashes,. and the meningeal symptoms which may accompany it, from a recrudescence of the specific infection. The serum reactions, although often very severe, appear on the whole to be beneficial to the patient. The most usual time for their occurrence was the ninth day following the first injection.