Antibiotic treatment of anthrax infection in mice.

Quantitative measurements of mean time to death, percentage of survivors, and viable cell populations in the whole body were employed to determine the effects of penicillin, dihydrostreptomycin, chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, chloramphenicol, and antiserum on the course of anthrax infection in mice. By all parameters tested, penicillin and dihydrostreptomycin were most effective in the treatment of the disease. Therapy initiated in the later stages of the disease was more effective than that initiated in the earlier stages. Quantitative studies indicated that it was more difficult to eliminate organisms from the kidney than from any other organ or tissue. These measurements for the evaluation of antibiotic therapy are suggested for the study of other bacterial diseases.