In a previous study in this series1 it was concluded that scarlet fever did not affect the reaction to the Schick test; that is, that there was no difference in the cutaneous reactions to diphtheria toxin during the acute febrile and the convalescent stage of this disease. On the basis of the Schick test the work of other investigators2 has suggested that scarlet fever increases the susceptibility to diphtheria. Only in the study of Kojis and Craig and in our own were comparisons made of the Schick reactions during the acute and the convalescent stage of scarlet fever in the same group of patients.
PLAN OF STUDY
If, as some investigators have claimed, scarlet fever induces an increase in positive Schick reactions, two explanations may be offered: There may be a decrease in circulating diphtheria antitoxin, or there may be an increased sensitivity of the skin to diphtheria