EFFECT OF OXYTETRACYCLINE THERAPY OF STREPTOCOCCAL SORE THROAT ON THE INCIDENCE OF ACUTE RHEUMATIC FEVER

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Abstract
506 patients with streptococcal exudative pharyngitis were treated with oxytetracycline for 5 days. Four hundred eighty patients who received no specific therapy served as controls. In the dosages employed, oxytetracycline reduced the convalescent streptococcal carrier rate 55% as compared to the control group. In addition, the average antistreptolysin response in the treated patients was 49% less than that observed in the control patients. Maximal inhibition of antibody production occurred in the treated patients in whom the infecting organism was eliminated. Recurrent pharyngitis occurred more frequently in the treated group, particularly in those patients who remained carriers. The 2d clinical illness usually developed within 2-3 weeks after therapy had been discontinued. Suppurative complications were of infrequent occurrence in both groups. Rheumatic fever developed within 35 days after the onset of the streptococcal infection in 12 patients in the control group and in 5 in the treated group.