THE THERAPY OF FUSOSPIROCHETOSIS (VINCENT'S DISEASE)

Fusospirochetosis or Vincent's infection—infection by a symbiotic group of anaerobic organisms commonly present about the teeth—has not yet received adequate attention from a major proportion of the medical profession. Gingivitis and pyorrhea are so common that they are usually neglected and an unwarranted, hopeless attitude concerning them is prevalent. Grades of infection in the throat and lungs, less severe than the usual textbook pictures, are relatively frequent, and they are commonly not correctly diagnosed. This is due to lack of familiarity with their possible clinical manifestations and the difficulty in demonstrating the smaller varieties of spirochetes. The most invasive of the spirochetes, as indicated by their occurrence alone in some pleural effusions and their predominance in the sputum in some cases of severe lung infections, are so small that they can be seen in the dark field with the usual 1.9 mm. objective and funnel stop only with the most