USE OF SULFANILAMIDE AND RELATED COMPOUNDS IN DISEASES OF INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD

Abstract

The advent of the sulfonamide compounds has probably had a more favorable effect on the course of many infectious diseases in pediatrics than in any other field of medicine. This paper will present as briefly as possible the indications for the use of the various drugs, the results of treatment, dosage and methods of administration of the sulfonamide compounds, contraindications to chemotherapy, and toxic manifestations of the drugs in infants and children. BETA HEMOLYTIC STREPTOCOCCUS INFECTIONS Erysipelas.— Response to therapy has been dramatically favorable in this type of infection. A reduction in the mortality of patients under 2 years of age from approximately 35 per cent to 5 per cent has occurred in most hospitals in which erysipelas is treated. The majority of deaths has occurred in cases of overwhelming infection in less than twenty-four hours after admission to the hospital. More experience has been gained with sulfanilamide, but