Rheumatic Heart Disease in Scarlet-Fever Patients Treated with Penicillin

Abstract

IN 1948 Massell, Dow and Jones¹ reported that the administration of penicillin to rheumatic subjects with established streptococcal infections prevented the recurrence of rheumatic fever. Two years later, Denny and his co-workers² recorded a marked reduction in the frequency of this disease after penicillin therapy of streptococcal pharyngitis in normal adults. In this study, and in a subsequent one carried out by Wannamaker et al.,³ 978 men with this type of sore throat were given penicillin whereas 996 control patients, selected only on the basis of the Air Force serial numbers, received no specific treatment. On the basis of the . . .