Abstract
Hexylresorcinol was recently found by us to be an effective ascaricide, killing Ascaris suum quickly in vitro, removing in single therapeutic doses practically 100% of the ascarids from dogs and 90% or more from man. 1 , 2 , 3 Leonard has found this substance very non-toxic in his clinical work on urinary antisepsis, 4 and we have treated 1500 human cases for ascariasis without symptoms of any consequence. 5 Our laboratory experiments showed hexylresorcinol to be also effective against hookworm in dogs. 2
Through the kindness of Dr. W. W. Cort of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene, and Dr. A. T. MacCormack, Commissioner of Health for the State of Kentucky, arrangements were made by which we could treat and re-examine cases of ascariasis studied in the survey being carried out by Dr. Cort on the distribution and incidence of ascariasis in the United States. A field laboratory was set up under the directorship of Dr. G. F. Otto of Dr. Cort's department, in Jackson, Kentucky, with a technical staff for making egg counts by the Stoll Method. 6 Dr. H. W. Brown of this department was in charge of all treatments, recollections, and recounts. Of the 6,000 cases examined by Dr. Cort's staff, 1,350 cases of ascariasis were treated by Dr. Brown and Dr. B. H. Robbins; 1,000 recollections were made 2 weeks after treatment, and egg counted. Among these, 530 cases harboring hookworms were found and treated. These hookworm treatments were incidental to the more complete studies of hexylresorcinol in ascariasis and are necessarily incomplete. The cases were treated with various amounts of the drug at different times in widely separated communities and under all manner of conditions. Those here reported are a summary of the effects of therapeutic doses of hexylresorcinol given as crystals in hard gelatin capsules and followed by water in some instances and mineral oil in others.
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