In a study1 of the changes in skin sensitivity to scarlatinal streptococcus filtrate toxin, and the development of neutralizing antitoxin following injections of the filtrate, it was found that the decrease in skin sensitivity appeared relatively quickly, and that antitoxin was not usually demonstrable until a week or two later. The rapid change in skin sensitivity resembled desensitization of an anaphylactically hypersensitive tissue following injection of antigen, and appeared not to be dependent on the later formation of specific antibodies. In the present paper, observations on the changes in skin sensitivity and the development of antitoxin in the course of clinical scarlet fever are reported.
The reaction to the Dick test in scarlet fever, according to a number of reports, is modified by the disease and tends to become negative during convalescence. Before the onset, the reaction has been positive in almost all those tested, and, in many instances,