Abstract
In view of the fact that mumps confers a marked immunity on the person who has had the disease, that a second attack is rare, the blood of convalescents was used in a prophylactic way. Six to eight c.c. of blood was injected intramuscularly in 17 cases. These children were in wards where there had been cases of mumps for the past month and where it continued to appear for a month following these inoculations. In no case did one of the inoculated children develop mumps, whereas one third to one half of the non-inoculated cases developed the disease. The blood was taken from children who had just recovered or had been well for about ten days.
It would seem that this procedure could be made use of in the institution as well as in the home, and that this type of therapy could be adapted in the case of measles and other infectious diseases.
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