The prevalence of Trichocephalus dispar / by H.S. French and A.E. Boycott.

  • French, Herbert Stanley, 1875-1951.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The prevalence of Trichocephalus dispar / by H.S. French and A.E. Boycott. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    5/10 (page 275)
    hospital as a case of Ascaids infection; in the remaining 39 eggs of Trichocephalus dispar were found. We did not meet with the eggs of any other parasite. The following table shows the details of these cases with regard to age distribution: Age Total cases examined Cases in which eggs were found Percentagi infected 0—5 42 1 2-4 5—10 43 5 (+1 Ascaris) 11-9 10—20 86 9 105 20—30 96 12 12-5 30—40 58 7 12-1 40—50 69 3 4-4 50—60 51 2 4-0 60—70 19 0 0 over 70 3 0 0 age not given 33 0 0 500 39 7-8 + 1 Ascaris These figures indicate a well-marked susceptible period of life; 84 p.c. of the infections fall between 5 and 40, while but 57 p.c. of the cases examined come within that age period. The absence of infections in children is striking; the single case in the period 0-5 years was aged 4, so that in the first four years of life we have 41 cases with no infections1. The sex incidence is equal: of 279 males 22 (= 7‘9 p.c.), and of 221 females 17 (=7'7 p.c.), were found to be infected. As might be expected, nothing suggestive is found in the diseases with which Trichocephalus was associated. Roughly speaking 45 p.c. of the infected patients were medical, 30 p.c. surgical, 7 p.c. gynaecological, and 10 p.c. were suffering from affections of the eyes. Of 24 cases of appendicitis, two (8’3 p.c.) had worms; as this is rather less than the average incidence (9'4 p.c.) in all the cases of the same age period, no support is afforded to the notion that Trichocephalus has any aetiological relationship to appendicitis2. The length of time between the patients’ admission to the hospital and the discovery of eggs varied from 2 to 103 (average 27) days. In no case were the eggs numerous, and in the majority not more than 1 to 3 were found in a drop of the washed faeces. 1 The presence of Oxyuris is often missed by the ordinary methods of examination of faeces. We have had the opportunity of comparing in a number of cases the results of the microscopical examination of faeces with a subsequent microscopical search for the adult worms after the administration of thymol. In the former the eggs or worms were seen extremely seldom, while in the latter specimens of Oxyuris were nearly always found. 2 Metchnikoff, Bull, de l’Acad, de Med. vol. xlv. 1901, p. 301.