THE NATURE OF THE PRECEDING INFECTION IN ACUTE GLOMERULONEPHRITIS: IN TWO NEW YORK HOSPITALS AND IN FOUR SOUTHERN HOSPITALS

A previous paper1has shown that the reported hospital medical admission rate for acute glomerulonephritis is similar in four latitude regions of the United States and southern Canada. In contrast, there is a diminished case frequency for scarlet fever and rheumatic fever in the South as compared with the North. Since clinical and laboratory evidence favors the hypothesis that acute glomerulonephritis is chiefly related to a preceding hemolytic streptococcus infection, it appeared peculiar that the diminution in incidence of the hemolytic streptococcus diseases scarlet fever and rheumatic fever in the southern latitudes did not also occur in the group of patients with acute nephritis. Osman,2who studied the data on deaths from acute and chronic nephritis compiled from tables in the League of Nations International Year Book for 1928, found it impossible to correlate the figures with climatic or racial factors. In order to gain more accurate information