THE SEROLOGIC AND ETIOLOGIC SPECIFICITY OF THE ALPHA STREPTOCOCCUS OF GASTRIC ULCER

Abstract

Because of the overwhelming trend of clinical opinion that infection is the inciting cause of gastric, duodenal and gastrojejunal ulcer, the present investigative work was undertaken by the Department of Surgical Research of Cornell University Medical College, New York City, in collaboration with the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine under the direct supervision of Dr. Joshua E. Sweet, Dr. John C. Torrey and Dr. Morton C. Kahn. The work involved a bacteriologic study of gastric ulcer and the isolation of an alpha streptococcus from gastric, duodenal and gastrojejunal ulcers which is proved identical and specific by differential cultural tests and by agglutination, cross-agglutination and agglutinin absorption. The agglutinogenic and antigenic homogeneity of this type with four alpha strains, which were obtained from cases of a specific disease characterized by an acute onset of multiple typical ulcers of the lip, tongue, soft palate and pharynx, is demonstrated, and also