Lobar Pneumonia in Children

During 1931 the families of children with clinical evidence of lobar pneumonia were investigated, in the hope of elucidating factors contributing to the occurrence of the disease. As a compact epidemiologic unit, the family affords an opportunity to determine kinds and potential sources of infection and mechanisms underlying the transmission of infectious material. Since the relative etiologic significance of the types of pneumococcus is not yet fully understood, types recovered from patients will be reviewed with reference to their selection and their importance as causative agents. The familial distribution of pneumococci will be presented in relation to observed differences in their etiologic significance. In order to insure comparable epidemiologic data, the study has been limited to families of patients with "lobar" pneumonia. This designation is here used to refer to a familiar clinical condition having a typical course and a characteristic pathologic picture. In these respects it embraces a fairly