THE IMPORTANT role played by chronic upper respiratory infection in the etiology of many systemic diseases and functional disorders is not sufficiently recognized. Relief or cure of the latter may be impossible until the primary focus of infection is removed. Unfortunately, attention is concentrated on the infected tissue rather than on the infecting organisms. Rhinolaryngologists eradicate infected tissue and drain infected cavities and then imagine that they have removed the focus of infection. As a rule, they make no attempt to destroy the infecting bacteria that remain at and near the infective site or to neutralize their toxic products. They therefore have failed to remove the bacterial focus of infection, which is the real cause of the secondary disturbances. This requires stimulation of specific antibody production to combat the infecting bacteria and their toxins.
INFECTION—ACUTE, CHRONIC, AND LATENT
A brief review of infection may lead to a better understanding of