Vaccine Therapy
BACTERIA THERAPY, the treatment and prevention of disease by inoculation with the virus of the bacteria causing the dis- It was first practiced by Dr. Edease. ward Jenner toward the end of the 18th century. He made the discovery that persons inoculated with cowpox were thereby rendered immune against smallpox. Since that time the practice has been extended to several other diseases, including typhoid fever, asthma, and pneumonia, and it is claimed that in most cases the results have been remarkably successful. Care should be taken to distinguish between SERUM THERAPY (q. v.) and vaccine therapy. In the former, anti-toxins are injected into the blood to assist in the destruction of the toxins which cause the diseased condition. In the latter, bacteria themselves, or their products, are introduced into the blood, the theory underlying the practice being the stimulation of the natural healing powers of the body, by the formation of anti-toxins, thus producing greater resistance to disease. Human serum possesses what is known as opsonic action on bacteria, which means that it renders them more easily destroyed by the white corpuscles in the blood. The power which the serum of a patient displays toward bacteria is known as the "opsonic index" (see OPthe opsonic index is rising, favorable results can be produced by vaccine injection, but when the opsonic index is falling, it is advisable to discontinue injections.
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