Susceptibility of the New-Born to Acute Bacillary Dysentery

The increasing incidence of bacillary dysentery and its appearance in new and atypical forms have been referred to in previous papers.1Epidemic and sporadic outbreaks have been encountered, many of them occurring in hospitals and institutions. Clinical evidence indicates marked susceptibility in new-born infants and young children to the acute forms of the disease. In the epidemic in Jersey City (Flexner type), as previously reported,1a85 per cent of the hospitalized patients were infants and children. In an outbreak of the Sonne-Duval type of dysenterylb all the patients in the primarily affected group were infants and children. The literature is replete with similar instances.2The present study, of one hundred mothers and their new-born infants, was undertaken in an attempt to determine the reason for the susceptibility of the latter to acute bacillary dysentery. The practical application of our findings in clinical and preventive medicine will be indicated.