Serum Reactions and Serum Sensitivity Tests

Prevention of tetanus.

“…were encountered, no case of fatal anaphylaxis was recorded during the period under review; on the other hand, casualty associated tetanus accounted for 11 deaths and critical illness in nine other persons. Laurent and Parish (1952) have estimated that the mortality rate from A.T.S. is between 1 in 50,000 and 1 in 200,000 (0.05 to 0.2/10,000), but the mortality rate from tetanus among patients who were treated in the casualty department from 1959 to 1962 was at least 2.4 deaths per 10,000 patients.…”

Prevention of tetanus during the First World War

“…In 1952, the incidence of fatal serum anaphylaxis after administration of serum was estimated as lying between 1 in 50 000 and 1 in 200 000 25. It must, therefore, be presumed that during WWI, tens to hundreds of men on both sides of the conflict might have died as a result of routine administration of anti-tetanus serum.…”

Antivenene Reaction Following Accidental Sea-snake Bite

“…Swaroop and Grab (1954) estimated that about half a million people in the world were bitten each year by snakes. According to Laurent and Parish (1952), the incidence of serum anaphylaxis may not have been appreciably reduced by modern processing, whereas serum sickness has fallen from 40-60% of injections with crude serum to 20-30% with ammonium and sodium sulphate concentration and to 5% with enzyme refining.…”

“…Prevention and treatment of serum reactions in general are admirably dealt with by Laurent and Parish (1952) and Williams (1955). Payling Wright and his colleagues (Littlewood et al, 1954) have shown that, once injection of horse serum has been given, with second or subsequent injections the serum is likely to be removed so rapidly from the circulation by the liver that prophylactic effectiveness is curtailed.…”