III. BACTERIOPHAGES IN TREATMENT OF COLON BACILLUS SEPTICEMIA

Septicemia due to the colon bacillus, though less common than septicemia due to the cocci, is ordinarily a disease of high mortality. It arises as a terminal phase of an ascending urinary infection and less frequently by extension of septic infection from other regions of the body. During the past three years we have seen and treated three patients with this condition and have had the opportunity to furnish bacteriophage preparations and advice as to their application for two other patients. The cooperation of the patient, the clinician and the bacteriologist in this small group has presented a sharp contrast when compared with that experienced with the larger group of patients with urologic diseases. The patient with septicemia is usually in sufficient distress that he and his family are willing to follow the advice of the physician; and after a succession of positive blood cultures coupled with severe chills, sharp