OPHTHALMOLOGISTS have long been impressed by the favorable, and frequently dramatic, immediate effects of general protein shock in diseases of the uveal tract. Nonspecific foreign protein shock therapy is now widely accepted in the management of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases of the eye. The agents producing more pronounced febrile reactions have gradually grown in popularity. Milk, milk derivatives and typhoid vaccine have enjoyed worldwide acceptance. Severe, and occasionally fatal, reactions to typhoid vaccine have led many physicians to prefer the milder-acting typhoid H antigen preparation.
An explanation of the specific therapeutic effect produced by these agents has been long in forthcoming. The concensus was that the severe general reaction, accompanied with leukocytosis, general and local vasodilatation, increased antibody titer, etc., stimulated the mechanism of immunity of the entire body to excessive response. It was not until 1946, when Selye1 introduced his concept of the "general adaptation syndrome," that