The present series consists of 67 patients, 17 of whom died, giving a gross fatality rate of 25.4%. Nearly one half of the cases were under 2 years of age and accounted for 65% of the deaths. By disregarding patients who died within 36 hours of admission and patients first admitted to the hospital after 21 days, the corrected fatality rate for the group below 2 years is 18.2%.Death occurred in the four patients admitted and first treated at the end of the third week of illness. Both deaths in the group under 2 years who received sulfadiazine, serum and streptomycin occurred in patients who had been ill three weeks before receiving treatment.The prognosis is likely to be unfavorable in the age group under 2 years if treatment is delayed beyond the 14th day.The fatality rate for patients who received sulfadiazine and serum was the same in this series as for patients who received streptomycin in addition.Serotherapy proved ineffectual in the age group under 2 years when delayed beyond the 14th day of illness. With respect to prognosis, the intravenous route for administration of serum offers no advantage over the intramuscular route.
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