Diphtheria as a Model: Introduction of Serums and Vaccines for Scarlet Fever and Pneumococcal Pneumonia

Although the investigations of Pasteur and Koch opened a new world to the scientists of their day, in the beginning they contributed nothing to the therapy of disease. The first clear-cut demonstration that the science of bacteriology could lead to the cure of disease came when Behring announced, in 1890, that the serum of animals immunized with diphtheria toxin protected other animals against infection with the diphtheria bacillus. 1 A year later clinicians began to use this antiserum to check the course of diphtheria in patients. 2(p261) Research on diphtheria took a second practical step forward when Behring showed in 1913 that the toxin could be used to immunize humans against the disease. 3 Thus, the pattern was laid down for others to follow: Find a toxin for each bacterium being investigated, use it to immunize animals and humans against the disease, and obtain an antiserum from animals that will