Electrolyte Concentration During Acute Infections

The diverse pattern of adaptation of body physiology to infections remains poorly understood and presents a challenging field for investigation. The present study is concerned with certain common electrolyte derangements. A review of the literature on the disturbances of water and electrolyte balance in patients suffering from acute febrile diseases shows that maximum interest in this problem was manifest during the 1920's and early 1930's. Changes in water balance, chloride levels of serum and urine, freezing point depression, and other physiological parameters were carefully studied in patients suffering from pneumococcal lobar pneumonia. A typical picture was outlined as characterized by water retention,¹⁻⁴with fall in the concentration of chloride and total "fixed base" in serum,⁵,⁶and diminished freezing point depression³,⁷throughout the precritical period, followed by return to normal values after the crisis. Similar low concentrations were recorded for other serum electrolytes such as calcium, magnesium, and