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INCOME-TAX RELIEF FOR DEFENCE SOCIETIES SUBSCRIPTIONS
1290
possible beneficial effects of cortisone and cooling, although the deterioration in the first 6 hours of cortisone therapy, and the immediate improvement after the patient’s temperature had been reduced to normal levels, suggested that the cooling played a role in his ultimate the
C’omnlf>tf>
T’f*mvfrv
The London
Hospital, E.1.
P. B. CROFT R. A. HENSON.
particles, as is the case with tobacco mosaic virus° or experimental hen leukxmia. Sporadic virus infections may conceivably be due to an event which induces such a resynthesis, and the reconstituted virus entity may eventually gain in virulence by repeated passages. Our further investigations will try to establish whether similar changes can be detected in man. virus
detailed account of our results was given at the World of Prophylactic Medicine in Gmunden on Sept. 8, and the work will be published elsewhere. A
more
Congress
SUSCEPTIBILITY TO VIRUS INFECTION AFTER ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY SiR,—The incidence of certain virus diseases, such as hepatitis, infectious mononucleosis, and coxsackie infections is steadily increasing. The parallel between the increase in antibiotic consumption and the increase in these infections could be a coincidence, but the fact that antibiotics may induce unfamiliar syndromes by eliminating normal bacterial flora suggests that something similar may be happening in certain sporadic virus diseases.1 Antibiotic therapy influences directly the production of antibodies, but it is not certain whether this influence is due to the early elimination of bacterial antigens 23 or to 4 an interference with the antibody-producing apparatus. Antibiotics seem to interfere with certain enzyme activities in cells (utilisation of vitamins, modification of cholinesterase activity, &C.),5 which might be taken as support for this second hypothesis. We investigated, therefore, the change in agglutinin titres, neutralising capacity, and electrophoretic patterns. in healthy rabbits during antibiotic therapy and after active immunisation with type-3 adenovirus. ,
32 rabbits
divided into five groups.
The first group was treated with penicillin or streptomycin (30,000 units and 15 mg. per kg. body-weight per day) for three weeks. The cold agglutinins and agglutinins against sheep’s red cells were determined before and after the course of antibiotics. The second group was immunised with adenovirus, and the neutralising power of the serum was estimated at the end of the immunising period. In the third group the antibiotics were given during immunisation, and the animals in the fourth group received the antibiotics after immunisation. The last 5 rabbits served as controls. Changes in the plasma-proteins and lipoproteins were determined by paper electrophoresis.
The
were
of errors were considerable, and we interthe results with great scepticism. Several facts seem, preted however, to suggest that antibiotics do influence the susceptibility of the organism to virus infection. The following points merit further investigation: (1) The cold and sheep-cell agglutinin titres increased after antibiotic therapy. sources
(2) The adenovirus-neutralising titre of the serum of healthy rabbits was reduced when the immunisation was performed parallel with antibiotic therapy or when penicillin or streptomycin was given after immunisation. (3) The albumin fraction of the serum-proteins increased after antibiotic therapy, which accords with earlier observations.6 (4) The a-lipoproteins decrease and the -lipoproteins increase during penicillin or streptomycin treatment. The lipoproteins are thought to play a part in the defence of the organism against virus infections.7 The increase in the cold and sheep-cell antibodies suggests that antibiotics may encourage a resynthesis of 1. Elsdon-Dew, R. Lancet, 1957. i, 162. 2. Frugoni, C., Giunchi, G. Rif. Med. 1953, 67, 1289. 3. Weinstein, L. Bull. N.Y. Acad. Med. 1955, 31, 500. 4. Stevens, K. M. J. Immunol. 1953, 71, 119. 5. Mosonyi, L. Antibiotica et Chemotherapia: Advances; vol. 5. Basle and New York, 1958. 6. Oeff, K., Rust, S., Schwarz, E., Weise, H. J. Klin. Wschr. 1955, 33, 719. 7. Raffel, S. Immunity. New York, 1956.
L. MOSONYI TH. CSIKY A. LENGYEL G. RÉTSÁGI I. BALÁZSI P. SZEMERE.
II Medical Clinic and
Microbiological Department, University of Budapest.
CLEANING OF GRIMY WOUNDS SIR,-Cleansing of the skin, especially of the hands, before the treatment of accidental wounds, is often difficult when the skin is soiled by paint, oil, or grease mixed with dirt. I have found that a solvent jelly (a mixture of sodium oleate and a hydrocarbon solvent) is a very satisfactory cleansing agent, far superior to soap and water, ether soap, essential oils, such as terebinth, or solutions of cetrimide. It causes little or no pain on application and we have not noticed any delay in wound healing or any allergic reactions. the patient is given some of the jelly and, after well into the hands, he rinses it off under running water. Alternatively, the operator can spread the material with a swab when the grime is easily wiped off, and the area is then rinsed with water. As an aid to dispensing, the jelly is kept in a pliable polyethylene bottle, closed by a screw cap fitted with a nozzle. The dispenser is filled by aspiration from a 31/2 lb. tin after squeezing the air from the bottle.
Usually working it
The jelly is marketed under the trade Bros. of Reddish.
name
of’Dirty Paws’ by
Kay
General Hospital, Ashton-under-Lyne.
A. WILKINSON.
INCOME-TAX RELIEF FOR DEFENCE SOCIETIES SUBSCRIPTIONS
SIR,-Prior to the coming into operation of the Finance Act, 1958, a doctor or dentist whose professional remuneration was assessable to income-tax under Schedule E (remuneration by salary) was not normally allowed relief for his annual subscription to his defence society. The Commissioners of Inland Revenue have now approved the Medical Defence Union, the Medical Protection Society, and the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland for the purposes of Section 16 of the Finance Act 1958, and the whole of the annual subscription paid by a member who qualifies for relief under that section will be allowable as a deduction from his emoluments assessable to income-tax under Schedule E. Practitioners assessed under Schedule D already enjoy this concession but a member of a medical defence society who holds a salaried appointment should apply to his tax office without delay for Form P.358 on which to make a claim for adjustment of his pay-as-you-earn
coding.
ROBERT FORBES Secretary, Medical Defence Union
ALISTAIR FRENCH Secretary,
Medical Protection
Society.
C. C. MILLAR Secretary, Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland. 8.
Seelich, F. Wien.
klin. Wschr. 1956, 68, 884.
possible beneficial effects of cortisone and cooling, although the deterioration in the first 6 hours of cortisone therapy, and the immediate improvement after the patient’s temperature had been reduced to normal levels, suggested that the cooling played a role in his ultimate the
C’omnlf>tf>
T’f*mvfrv
The London
Hospital, E.1.
P. B. CROFT R. A. HENSON.
particles, as is the case with tobacco mosaic virus° or experimental hen leukxmia. Sporadic virus infections may conceivably be due to an event which induces such a resynthesis, and the reconstituted virus entity may eventually gain in virulence by repeated passages. Our further investigations will try to establish whether similar changes can be detected in man. virus
detailed account of our results was given at the World of Prophylactic Medicine in Gmunden on Sept. 8, and the work will be published elsewhere. A
more
Congress
SUSCEPTIBILITY TO VIRUS INFECTION AFTER ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY SiR,—The incidence of certain virus diseases, such as hepatitis, infectious mononucleosis, and coxsackie infections is steadily increasing. The parallel between the increase in antibiotic consumption and the increase in these infections could be a coincidence, but the fact that antibiotics may induce unfamiliar syndromes by eliminating normal bacterial flora suggests that something similar may be happening in certain sporadic virus diseases.1 Antibiotic therapy influences directly the production of antibodies, but it is not certain whether this influence is due to the early elimination of bacterial antigens 23 or to 4 an interference with the antibody-producing apparatus. Antibiotics seem to interfere with certain enzyme activities in cells (utilisation of vitamins, modification of cholinesterase activity, &C.),5 which might be taken as support for this second hypothesis. We investigated, therefore, the change in agglutinin titres, neutralising capacity, and electrophoretic patterns. in healthy rabbits during antibiotic therapy and after active immunisation with type-3 adenovirus. ,
32 rabbits
divided into five groups.
The first group was treated with penicillin or streptomycin (30,000 units and 15 mg. per kg. body-weight per day) for three weeks. The cold agglutinins and agglutinins against sheep’s red cells were determined before and after the course of antibiotics. The second group was immunised with adenovirus, and the neutralising power of the serum was estimated at the end of the immunising period. In the third group the antibiotics were given during immunisation, and the animals in the fourth group received the antibiotics after immunisation. The last 5 rabbits served as controls. Changes in the plasma-proteins and lipoproteins were determined by paper electrophoresis.
The
were
of errors were considerable, and we interthe results with great scepticism. Several facts seem, preted however, to suggest that antibiotics do influence the susceptibility of the organism to virus infection. The following points merit further investigation: (1) The cold and sheep-cell agglutinin titres increased after antibiotic therapy. sources
(2) The adenovirus-neutralising titre of the serum of healthy rabbits was reduced when the immunisation was performed parallel with antibiotic therapy or when penicillin or streptomycin was given after immunisation. (3) The albumin fraction of the serum-proteins increased after antibiotic therapy, which accords with earlier observations.6 (4) The a-lipoproteins decrease and the -lipoproteins increase during penicillin or streptomycin treatment. The lipoproteins are thought to play a part in the defence of the organism against virus infections.7 The increase in the cold and sheep-cell antibodies suggests that antibiotics may encourage a resynthesis of 1. Elsdon-Dew, R. Lancet, 1957. i, 162. 2. Frugoni, C., Giunchi, G. Rif. Med. 1953, 67, 1289. 3. Weinstein, L. Bull. N.Y. Acad. Med. 1955, 31, 500. 4. Stevens, K. M. J. Immunol. 1953, 71, 119. 5. Mosonyi, L. Antibiotica et Chemotherapia: Advances; vol. 5. Basle and New York, 1958. 6. Oeff, K., Rust, S., Schwarz, E., Weise, H. J. Klin. Wschr. 1955, 33, 719. 7. Raffel, S. Immunity. New York, 1956.
L. MOSONYI TH. CSIKY A. LENGYEL G. RÉTSÁGI I. BALÁZSI P. SZEMERE.
II Medical Clinic and
Microbiological Department, University of Budapest.
CLEANING OF GRIMY WOUNDS SIR,-Cleansing of the skin, especially of the hands, before the treatment of accidental wounds, is often difficult when the skin is soiled by paint, oil, or grease mixed with dirt. I have found that a solvent jelly (a mixture of sodium oleate and a hydrocarbon solvent) is a very satisfactory cleansing agent, far superior to soap and water, ether soap, essential oils, such as terebinth, or solutions of cetrimide. It causes little or no pain on application and we have not noticed any delay in wound healing or any allergic reactions. the patient is given some of the jelly and, after well into the hands, he rinses it off under running water. Alternatively, the operator can spread the material with a swab when the grime is easily wiped off, and the area is then rinsed with water. As an aid to dispensing, the jelly is kept in a pliable polyethylene bottle, closed by a screw cap fitted with a nozzle. The dispenser is filled by aspiration from a 31/2 lb. tin after squeezing the air from the bottle.
Usually working it
The jelly is marketed under the trade Bros. of Reddish.
name
of’Dirty Paws’ by
Kay
General Hospital, Ashton-under-Lyne.
A. WILKINSON.
INCOME-TAX RELIEF FOR DEFENCE SOCIETIES SUBSCRIPTIONS
SIR,-Prior to the coming into operation of the Finance Act, 1958, a doctor or dentist whose professional remuneration was assessable to income-tax under Schedule E (remuneration by salary) was not normally allowed relief for his annual subscription to his defence society. The Commissioners of Inland Revenue have now approved the Medical Defence Union, the Medical Protection Society, and the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland for the purposes of Section 16 of the Finance Act 1958, and the whole of the annual subscription paid by a member who qualifies for relief under that section will be allowable as a deduction from his emoluments assessable to income-tax under Schedule E. Practitioners assessed under Schedule D already enjoy this concession but a member of a medical defence society who holds a salaried appointment should apply to his tax office without delay for Form P.358 on which to make a claim for adjustment of his pay-as-you-earn
coding.
ROBERT FORBES Secretary, Medical Defence Union
ALISTAIR FRENCH Secretary,
Medical Protection
Society.
C. C. MILLAR Secretary, Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland. 8.
Seelich, F. Wien.
klin. Wschr. 1956, 68, 884.