Despite the fact that more than a score of years have passed since E. Pfeiffer1 first read a paper describing the condition which he termed (Drüsenfieber) glandular fever, to which Filatow2 had called attention four years earlier, and although the picture has since been seen and recognized by numerous observers, and many papers written on the subject, there is still discussion as to whether such condition exists as a disease sui generis; or whether it but represents a state of glandular enlargement, secondary to infection of the nasopharynx and mouth; or perhaps an atypical or abortive form of some disease having glandular swelling as an accompanying symptom.
The observation of an epidemic and a review of the literature must convince one that a disease such as Pfeiffer described does exist, at least as a clinical entity; the etiology, however, is still obscure.
The chief argument of those opposed