Rats, water, and disseminated sclerosis: an œtiological study

Abstract

1.) That a large proportion of patients suffering from disseminated sclerosis give a history of exposure to damp, especially of the hands and feet.

2.) That a large proportion give also a history of association with rats at home or at work.

3.) That a study of the occupation of those dying of the disease in England and ';ales in 1925 shows a heavy incidence in those occupations which would expose the worker to the above etiological factors.

4.) That the geographical distribution of cases in isnerica, and to a lesser extent in London round inland waters is in keeping with the clinical and occupational findings.

5.) That bacteriological opinion suggests a leptospira related to leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae as the casual organism of disseminated sclerosis, and that there is a strong probability that these organisms have an ineffective and a non-ineffective phase.

6.) That in general the association of rats, 'damp, and disseminated sclerosis is too frequent to be dismissed as merely accidental) without further investigation.