T. F. McNair Scott

An outbreak of coxsackie B-5 virus infection in a newborn nursery

An outbreak of Coxsackie B-5 virus infection among newborn infants in a maternity hospital is described. The infection was sporadic and mild among full-term infants, whereas the majority of premature infants exposed became infected and ill. The infected infants showed a spectrum of illness from apparent health to manifest aseptic meningitis, but the severe reactions usually associated with Coxsackie infections in the newborn were absent; there was no clinical evidence of myocarditis. The first cases detected were the result of in utero infections. The majority of infants developed a neutralizing titer to the virus, but some premature infants failed to develop complement-fixing antibodies.

Some comments on herpetic infection in children with special emphasis on unusual clinical manifestations

Summary A review of the epidemiology ofherpetic infection has illustrated areas in which further information is still needed. The clinical presentations were made with the objective of drawing the attention of clinicians to some of the more unusual manifestations of this infection so that it may be considered more regularly in mucous membrane and skin lesions and encephalitis in children. The relation of maternal immunity to fatal herpetic infection of the newborn infant is a further area for investigation.

Human skin grafted upon the chorioallantois of the chick embryo for virus cultivation.

Summary and Conclusions (1) Human skin may readily be grafted onto the chorioallantoic membrane of embryonated eggs. (2) The prepuce removed by usual surgical circumcision is a satisfactory source of adequate amounts of skin. (3) Penicillin and streptomycin obviate most bacterial contamination. (4) Grafted human skin may be passed serially from egg to egg at weekly intervals and remain viable. (5) Herpes simplex and vaccinia grow readily on grafted human skin, with the formation of characteristic inclusion bodies. (6) A successful inoculation with herpes zoster confirms the previous single successful cultivation of this virus outside of the human body.

An evaluation of Benemid p-(di-n-propylsulfamyl)-benzoid acid dosage schedule in children

I T HAS been shown *, ~, a, 4 that a new derivative of benzoic acid, Benemid, ~ p(di-n-propytsulfamyl)-benzoic acid, effectively blocks the renal tubular transport mechanism for penicillin, phenosulfonpht halein, para-aminohippurate, and para-aminosalicylie acid. It also increases the excretion of uric acid and lowers the uric acid blood level2, ~ No toxicity was demonstrated by months of daily medication in dogs and the kidney tubular blocking effects were completely reversible upon discontinuing the Bencmid. In man, Boger and associates 7 have shown that a dose of 2 Gin. a day in adults may be continued ~or as long as nine months without evidence of renal toxicity. Benemid has all the pharmacologic actions of carinamide. However, it does not have the drawbacks of the latter drug, namely, the large amount required--up to 24 Gin. per day in the adult, which has to be given in divided doses every four hours, fairly frequent gastric distress on full dosage, ability to induce sensitivity as manifest by cutaneous rashes, and excretion as a sodium salt which removes considerable amounts of sodium from the body. s