Abstract

SUMMARYA case of spirochetal infection of the blood stream is reported. The spirochetes were found on numerous occasions by examining a free drop of the patient's blood under dark field. Similar spirochetes were also found in the blood of a rat that had previously been injected with the patient's blood intraperitoneally. The spirochetes in this case have not been identified. During a ten months' illness the patient has not shown a satisfactory response to intensive treatment with drugs commonly used for this type of infection. Five months after the onset of the present illness, he developed a pericarditis with effusion, a complication following spirochetal infection that I have been unable to find in the literature.