CAPSULAR POLYSACCHARIDE IN THE BLOOD OF PATIENTS WITH PNEUMOCOCCIC PNEUMONIA

Abstract

We recently reported on the systematic examination for circulating capsular polysaccharide in the blood of 26 patients treated for pneumococcic pneumonia.¹ It is generally recognized that the presence of bacteremia increases the gravity of the prognosis of the disease. It appeared from our earlier observations that the occurrence of free polysaccharide, which is more rapidly detectable than bacteremia, makes the prognosis even graver. In this paper are reported the cases of 109 additional patients with pneumonia due to Pneumococcus type I, II, III, IV, V, VII or VIII and are presented the data on 135 patients frequently studied for the presence of polysaccharide. The patients, who had ample clinical, and usually roentgenologic, evidence of lobar pneumonia, were studied in the pneumonia service of Harlem Hospital. Before treatment was instituted samples of sputum for typing and of blood for MATERIALS AND METHODS The patients, who had ample clinical, and usually