Abstract
THE descriptive statements which have been published from time to time indicate both the nature of the King's illness and the treatment adopted more fully than is possible in the daily bulletins and enable a clear picture of the course of the malady to be formed. The illness began as a streptococcal septicaemia, with later localisation of the infection between the base of the right lung and the diaphragm: such a ‘ fixation abscess’ is of favourable import, since its appearance is usually followed by a lessening of the general infection. Apart from treatment directed towards the maintenance of the patient's strength, including the assimilation of appropriate nourishment, the aim has been to aid the development of the body's defences against the attack of the micro-organisms and to maintain the blood and tissues generally in as nearly normal a condition as possible. Thus the application of ultra-violet rays to the skin in suitable dosage should result in an increase in the bactericidal power of the blood; whilst the organisms in the abscess cavity in the chest can be more directly attacked by the application of antiseptic solutions. For this latter purpose a solution of hypochlorous acid containing active chlorine, which was developed during the War by Carrel and Dakin for the treatment of septic wounds, has been used: its advantages are that it is almost non-toxic to living tissues, including the white cells of the blood which enter the abscess cavity to ingest and destroy the organisms, although acting deleteriously upon the organisms themselves.
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News and Views. Nature 123, 59–63 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/123059a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/123059a0