A New Antibacterial Compound

Source: The British Medical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 4482 (Nov. 30, 1946), p. 823
Published by: BMJ
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20368113
Accessed: 30-07-2018 06:08 UTC

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 Nov. 30, 1946 PRE-OPERATIVE DIETS MBEDICAL 823
said to be palatable and is given inwasmultiple ineffective againstservings.
Str. pneunioniae. It is fairly active
Diet 2 is designed for tubal feeding against andTrypanosoma
although equiperduin
less in mice
pala and Treponeiuw
table is taken readily by mouth. Varco pallidum inhas rabbits,given
but it has no 5,000
action on Spirochaeta
to 6,000 calories to patients with ulcerative recurrentis duttoni or neoplastic
in mice. Even the optimum dose pro
lesions of stomach and duodenum but little
tects only 67-70% orof theno pyloric
mice treated for the above infec
obstruction. Patients with partial obstruction tions, and the explanation were given is obscure.
of this phenomenon
limited quantities of Diet 1 by dayLarger and dosesDiet 2 death
increase the by rate,night.
although 150 mg./kg.
From midnight to 8 a.m. during the initial daily is considerably
days below no the ordinary lethal dose.
feeding
was allowed; the stomach was then evacuated The production of every bynewnasalantibacterial compound is
tube and the quantity measured: Patients to be welcomed, andhaving
the results ofaspira
clinical trials, which will
tions of less than 500 ml. were continued soon begin,on thiswith
are awaited regime,
interest. If furacin had been
which should permit or even exceed 3,500
described calories
13 years ago it woulddaily.
have been greeted as a
For patients with high-grade but not great discovery, butobstruction
complete the figures suggest only a relatively
a continuous stomach drip was set low up and
activity Diet
in vitro 2 v'ivo.
and in given.In an era of sulphon
In cases with complete pyloric obstruction amides and thepenicillin
bulka new antibiotic
of the requires very high
daily calorie intake was provided by hypertonic
therapeutic eftIiency or someglucose
other advantage for it to
(20% in distilled water) dripped intravenously at the
become established in clinical rate
practice.
of 100 to 125 ml. per hour through a fine needle, so that
1,500 ml. (1,200 calories) would be infused in ten to twelve
hours. Hourly rates in excess of this caused glycosuria.
The calorie requirement was further met by WOMEN
1,000z ml. IN INDUSTRY
of
5-10% glucose in distilled water or saline
The report solution,
of the Royal Commission as on equal pay, which
determined by electrolyte need. Protein was published
was supplied on Nov.daily 6, brings into prominence th
as plasma. Experience has shown that it is
opinion that morefemalecomfort
labour is less productive than male,
able if a forearm vein is used. This aallows view widely a freer range but dissented from by
held by employers
of movement than does insertion intothree of the four women
an antecubital vein. members of the Commission.
Protein digests do not as yet appear to Thisoffer
supposed a inferiority
satisfactory of female labour is difficult if
solution to this problem owing to not theimpossible large volumes
to assess accurately; it is usually attribute
required. Further, in the non-obstructive in part to acases' greater there liability to is ill-health in women. Th
presumably adequate enzymic activityB.M.A., without whoserecourse
policy has always to been equal pay for equa
predigestion. Diets 1 and 2 of Varcowork, can gave be evidence
applied before
to the the Commission stating that
treatment of cases with neoplasms of the contention
the colon, was not valid for medical women.
sigmoid
and rectum, and to burned patients.The importance
Varco hasofsuggested
investigating the health of women in
that when the percentage loss in body industry is emphasized
weight by a statement made by Dr. Ann
is 5-10%
three to five days of proper treatment Baetjer' to the effect that
are sufficient. When in the U.S.A. no fewer than
the loss approaches 20% ten to twelve 16 million
days are women are expected to be gainfully employed
necessary,
and three weeks are needed when the by 1950.
lossTheir employment presents many health and
approximates
25-30%. personnel problems which differ from those encountere
This recent work is very suggestive, although it does not in the employment of men, partly because of the physi
yet provide proof that such measures of nutritional re logical differences between men and women and partly
adjustment can yield a margin of safety for these poor-risk because of differences in their social backgrounds. If
patients. The clinical evidence in support of Varco's thesis women are to be utilized by industry with the maximum
is certainly worthy of consideration and confirmatory trial. of health and efficiency these problems must be much
more fully understood than at present. To this end
Dr. Baetjer has collected a considerable mass of such
information as is available, and has presented it in a ver
A NEW ANTIBACTERIAL COMPOUND readable form with numerous references to published
Recently the discovery has been announced' of a work.
new She has by no means confined her sources t
American literature, but has done full justice to th
synthetic compound called furacin (5-nitro 2-furaldehyde
investigations made in this country. She lays stress on
semicarbazone) 02N-11 -CH=N-NHCONH2 which
the considerable gaps in our knowledge which her dat
\0 indicate, and the monograph should prove most useful and
is actively bacteriostatic or bactericidal, and is said to be suggestive to future investigators.
effective clinically by local application to infected wounds. In her long section.on sickness-absenteeism, Dr. Baetjer
It is a yellow solid only slightly soluble in water and is not discusses the various reasons given to account for the
unduly toxic. In a concentration of 1: 20,000 to 1: 200,000 greater sickness of women than of men. It may be due
it inhibits the growth of many varieties of Gram-positive partly to women taking their aches and pains more seri
and Gram-negative organisms in vitro. This is not a very ously than men do, to their having more home responsibili
high degree of activity, however, and it does not act ties and duties, and to their greater indifference to adequate
in vitro on Ps. pyocanea or on Str. viridans, but does have nutrition, but perhaps the most important factor of al
a fairly strong action on M. tuberculosis. relates to the proper placement of women in relation t
When a single oral dose is given to mice the LD50 is their physical and mental capacities, and to the attitude of
about 590 mg./kg., and the chief toxic symptom is hyper their supervisors. The extent of occupational diseases
irritability, which may go on to convulsions. Mice were among women is not known, but there is some reason t
infected.with 10,000 lethal doses of various bacteria, and believe that toxic dusts, gases, and fumes do not affect
the effect of treatment by daily oral doses of the compound their health more than that of men. Information regar
was studied. In the optimum dose (150 mg./kg. daily for ing the number of women exposed to harmful chemica
3 days) furacin was fairly active against Staph. aureus, substances and the extent of their exposure is very limited
Str. haenzolyticus, and two Salmonella organisms, but it
1 Women in Industry. Their Health and EfficiencY. By Anna M. Baetier, Sc.D.
1 Dodd, M. C., J. Pharmacol., 1946, 86, 311. W. B. Saunders Company. 20s.

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