ON THE RELATION OF BACTERIA TO SO-CALLED "CHEMICAL PNEUMONIA"

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Abstract
The appearance of gassed lungs with pneumonia is very similar to the pneumonia of known bacterial origin. In a few cases the type of pneumonia found coincides with the reported cases of so-called "chemical pneumonia," which is characterized by a preponderance of epithelial cells in the exudate. Gassed lungs are not sterile but show highly varying numbers of bacteria, which are not intracellular and are not present in large numbers in the majority of cases. The arguments for and against a bacterial etiology may be summed up as follows: Against a causal relationship[long dash]The early appearance of pneumonia after gassing; occurrence of pneumonia with very small numbers of bacteria present; the fact that very few bacteria are engulfed by leucocytes in gassed lungs, whereas large numbers are present in the non-gassed pneumonias and are conspicuously intracellular. In favor of a causal relationship[long dash]The presence of bacteria in any numbers; the picture of broncho-pneumonia presented is similar to broncho-pneumonia of known bacterial origin; pneumonias characterized by large numbers of epithelial cells in the exudate occur in animals never gassed or subjected to other irritating substances.

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