A preliminary report1 on the use of sulfadiazine at the onset of acute infections of the respiratory tract in a highly susceptible population described a decrease in the severity and the duration of the disease in many of the cases observed. In some treated patients, however, the course of infection appeared to be unaffected, and in others a secondary rise in temperature occurred shortly after withdrawal of the drug. The study has been continued, and clinical data are now available on the outcome in 162 cases.
The work has been carried out at Letchworth Village, an institution of the state of New York for feebleminded patients,2 among children with the lowest mental rating and with an unusual degree of susceptibility to acute infections of the respiratory tract and secondary complications.3 Two methods of choosing subjects for the tests were tried in two different cottages (cottages Y and