Word: bacillus
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This time trouble had come in an unexpected form. The deadly bacillus was not a familiar strain of Vibrio cholerae (or Vibrio comma, from its shape), for which a vaccine of sorts is available. Instead, it was a strain of the El Tor group of vibrios,* one which had previously confined its disease-causing activities to the Indonesian island of Celebes. Once this kind of El Tor got under way, it seemed unstoppable. It secured beachheads in South Korea, Taiwan, Red China and Burma. Last year it reached South Viet Nam and Japan. Then it spread into Iran and Uzbekistan...
...Salmonella* bacillus has no fewer than 800 strains, most of which live in the gastrointestinal tracts of chickens, livestock, domestic pets and human carriers. The illness-producing germs are easily spread. Scientific tests have turned up the astonishing fact that as much as 58% of all meat in some U.S. cities is infected...
...several bacteria can cause pyelonephritis, but the worst offender is the colon bacillus. In women, infection is often precipitated by pregnancy; in men, by a kidney stone or prostate trouble. In many cases, pyelonephritis persists over many years. As the kidneys eventually lose their filtering efficiency, the patient may die of uremic poisoning...
...Medical scientists themselves have added to the confusion with an overlap of names. In 1892 a German researcher thought the cause of influenza was a bacillus, and named it Haemophilus influenzae. That bacillus is now known to cause infections in some flu victims, but only coincidentally. In 1922 a related bacillus, found in the throats of both cats and man, was named Haemophilus parainfluenzae, but has nothing to do with diseases now known to be caused by viruses...
...high-pressure operating room had been no easy matter. Before he could risk his new procedure on children, Dr. Boerema had experimented widely with the effects of high pressure. In the process, he discovered that oxygen drenching was good for victims of gas gangrene, which is caused by a bacillus closely related to that of tetanus. When he figured out the explanation, he realized that he had done more than develop a new form of therapy; at last he knew enough about the effects of high pressure to start his operations...