| Date | 1895 |
| Author | Anon. |
| Contribution | Diphtheria antitoxin was used strategically on a community basis. |
| Reference | Anon. |
| Notes | It was given to children who had been in contact with diphtheria cases. In New York 6,000 contacts were given antitoxin between 1895 and 1900, with good results. In the 20th Century this approach to community prevention was superseded by the use of toxin-antitoxin mixtures and then by the use of detoxified toxin (toxoid). The new methods were integrated with the Schick test for identifying susceptibles. While the use of antitoxin "serum therapy" to treat sick children was adopted very quickly, its public health use was hampered by adverse reactions in healthy children and was adopted more slowly. |
| Category | Immunology |
| Pathogen Class | Bacteria |
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