Translation

“The patients I had the opportunity to follow originate from an epidemic [of orchitis following parotitis] in the army during the winter of 1928 to 1929. The patients were treated at the Army Department of Epidemics.

When I realised that the complication of orchitis was very frequent during the first months of the epidemic, I considered the possibility that treatment with reconvalescent serum could reduce the number [of patients with the complication] and decided to conduct a trial of such a treatment.

After discussion with the head of the laboratory, Dr Martin Kristiansen, the State Serum Institute willingly took over the work of producing the serum. For this work and this help provided by the Institute, I am most obliged.

Serum was produced as treatment serum from the patients on the 10th to 22nd day of their disease. Almost all patients had been without fever for about a week, only a few for a shorter duration.

In order to avoid fluctuations in the epidemic playing a role in the assessment of a potential beneficial effect of the treatment, I proceeded as Professor Fibiger had done, when he assessed whether diphtheria [anti-]serum was effective against diphtheria.

Every second patient was treated with 40 cubic centimetres of reconvalescent serum intramuscularly, and the others received no serum.”

Translation by Christian Gluud