Streptococcal Allergy In Acute Rheumatic Infection.

The atiology of rheumatism has engaged the attention of bacteriologists for many years, and yet it is impossible to say that any definite conclusion has been reached. Many authors have suggested various types of non-haemolytic streptococci as possible causes, but none of their claims has been definitely established, and the vast amount of literature that has accumulated does not bring us much nearer a solution to the problem. It is our intention to review a small portion of this literature, adding the results of certain investigations, of our own, and to endeavour to explain some of the anomalous findings, on the supposition that there is no one definite streptococcus that is the cause of rheumatism, but that the disease is a mnanifestation of hypersensitiveness (allergy or hyperergy) to streptococci in general, and that in suitable circumstances any streptococcus may become the infecting agent provided the necessary degree of hyper-sensitiveness has been attained. We propose first to examine some of the sources from which microorganisms have been obtained, and the bacteriological findings in each case; then to discuss the question of allergy, and some of the experimental work that has been done on it; and finally to apply this theory to rheumatism, using it to explain some of the bacteriological difficulties in the disease.