Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 May 2009
An investigation of the blood of 28 patients suffering from plague has been made, involving the examination of 74 specimens. The B. pestis was not found in the blood of five patients whose illness ended in recovery; nor was it found in seven of the fatal cases. The salient facts ascertained from an analysis of the remaining 16 fatal septicaemic cases may be recapitulated thus:
(1) Microscopical examination of the blood cannot be regarded as a trustworthy criterion of the degree septicaemia.
(2) A severe septicaemia may be present at a comparatively early stage of the disease and for a considerable number of hours before death.
(3) The septicaemia may be of an irregular or fluctuating type.