Abstract
At the outset of the investigation it was desired to
ascertain whether there is any elimination of pathogenic organisms by the kidney in certain infectious
diseases and whether from the Public Health point of
view it is essential that the urine should in these
diseases be systematically disinfected.
The presence of specific microorganisms in the renal
secretion in cases of zymotic disease has been described by many observers, more particularly in
connection with enteric fever, and the subject possesses not only scientific interest but is of serious
practical importance in relation to the spread of
disease and the measures to be taken in prevention of
infection arising from this source, for, although
disinfection of the faeces in enteric fever is recognised as essential and carefully attended to, disinfection of the urine, passed independently of faeces,
has not been the routine practice and the question
of its continuous necessity throughout the illness
may still be regarded as sub judice.
To ascertain whether bacteriological examination
of the urine in cases of zymotic disease in this
neighbourhood would confirm in degree and kind the
the positive observations reported elsewhere or would
support the negative opinion of other investigators
this research was commenced.
The Report now submitted deals only with three
diseases viz., ENTERIC FEVER, SCARLET FEVER and
DIPHTHERIA, and is divided into four main divisions:-
I. Historical consideration of the question of
renal elimination of organisms.
II. Zymotic Bacteriuria.
III. An account of the cases examined by myself,
with the methods and media employed and
the results obtained, and comparison of
these with prior research.
IV. Subsidiary differential experiments suggested in the course of the research.
(a) Sterility of Normal Urine.
(b) Urine as a culture medium for Bacillus Typhosus.
(c) Organisms identified in the Urine in course of
the research, with a note on the different
varieties of Bacillus Coli Communis met with.
(d) Distinctions and antagonism between Bacillus
Coli Communis.and Bacillus Typhosus.
(e) Experiments with Medicated Media.
(f) Note on Indol Reaction.
(g) Tyrosin experiments.
