Epidemiology of Lobar Pneumonia

Abstract
Nasopharyngeal cultures from 264 contacts of 64 cases of lobar pneumonia due to types I and II pneumococci indicated that approximately 20% of immediate family contacts harbored the organisms. Hospital contacts of the same patients were seldom positive (about 2%). In 1 inconclusive exp. a type-I carrier (not ill) failed to transmit it to immediate contacts under overcrowded conditions over a short period during July, when the incidences of pneumococci and of lobar pneumonia were low. The study suggests that family epidemics of colds may be a factor in determining the transfer of these pneumococci from the infected and their establishment in the uninfected. Carriers may persist for a considerable time without symptoms, transmitting the disease or creating secondary carriers.

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