The author believes that little can be said for the prophylactic use of diphtheria toxoids and diphtheria toxin-antitoxin, and he even questions the efficacy of diphtheria antitoxin therapy.
He mentions communities in America and elsewhere where toxin-antitoxin was not used and where there were decreases in morbidity rates comparable to those in other cities where prophylactic injections were generally employed.
His statistics only illustrate the point that diphtheria is a disease which waxes and wanes with the years. In places where there has been a natural lessening in disease incidence, it would be difficult to link decreased morbidity with an increased use of prophylactic measures. However, one cannot conclude from this that the increased use of prophylactic measures has no effect on the morbidity rate of the disease.
It would seem that a case can be made for the American program of prophylactic injections on the basis of the results