Diphtheria

“Diphtheria, not smallpox, was the dread killer that stalked young children in the early twentieth century. Moreover, it was a disease for which a relatively effective treatment existed. In the early 1890s, scientists in Berlin discovered that horses injected with heat-killed broth cultures of diphtheria could survive repeated inoculations with the live bacilli. Fluid serum extracted from the animals’ blood provided a high degree of protection to humans. An injection of this substance, generally called antitoxin, did not provide complete immunity, but only about one in eight exposed individuals developed symptoms. After 1895 diphtheria antitoxin preparations were available in the United States” (Sealander, 326).