Varieties of the Meningococcus with special reference to a Comparison of Strains from Epidemic and Sporadic Sources

Abstract

The following paper is based on the results obtained by cultivating and experimenting with strains of Meningococcus from 45 different cases of Meningitis. Twenty-five of these occurred in Epidemic areas and 20 were Sporadic cases occurring in London. The Epidemic strains are referred to throughout this paper as E. 1, E. 2, E. 3, etc., and the London strains (Sporadic) as L. 1, L. 2, L. 3, etc. For most of the Epidemic strains I am indebted to Dr M. Macdonald of the Lightburn Hospital, Shettlestone, and to Dr C. B. Ker of the Fever Hospital, Edinburgh. Also I have used strains sent to the Lister Institute by Professor Symmers from Belfast and by Dr Buchanan from Glasgow.