Allen, R: Bacterial Diseases of Respiration, and Vaccines in

Excerpt from The Bacterial Diseases of Respiration, and Vaccines in Their Treatment

When first I began the study of this question just ten years ago, the one thing that struck me beyond all others was the utter inadequacy of the information obtainable from works in the English language, and, indeed, in any tongue, either bacteriological or dealing with general medicine, upon this very important subject. Despite the great impetus given to exact bacteriological research by the developments Of vaccine therapeutics, especially within the past five years, the omission has not yet been repaired in any single book or collection of books to which I have had access. The true importance of any disease is to be estimated neither by its rarity nor by its mortality-rate, but rather by its frequency and its disabling power. Granting the truth of this statement, it follows that diseases of the respiratory tract are of supreme importance to the human race; in frequency they excel all others, in the production of impaired health of varying periods and to varying extents they are fruitful to an extreme degree. It has occurred to me that a brief but systematic description of the bacterial diseases of the respiratory tract would have a certain value and prove of interest to many. This I shall endeavour to carry out according to the following scheme.

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