MASSIVE DOSE CHEMOTHERAPY OF EARLY SYPHILIS BY THE INTRAVENOUS DRIP METHOD

Abstract

One of the most serious obstacles to the eradication of syphilis lies in the fact that even the most modern methods for rendering the disease permanently noncommunicable require a minimum of from eight to ten months of treatment. A therapeutic method which would radically shorten this period and be safe, efficient and not too expensive would go far toward the ultimate conquest of this infection and be of enormous significance in the public health control of syphilis. The present discussion deals with the practical application to medical and public health problems of what began originally as an experiment in pure science—the development along physiologic and pharmacologic lines by Hyman and his associates¹of a new technic for introducing, with impunity, large amounts of fluids, drugs and biologic substances by means of the intravenous drip. At Chargin's suggestion, the method was applied for the administration of massive doses of arsenicals