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EDITOR'S CHOICE: Richard Smith Interacting with the BMJ to solve clinical problems BMJ 2003; 327: 0-f [Full text]

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Acute Rheumatic Fever or Kawasaki, the case of Tony Blair.

Friedrich Flachsbart   (20 October 2003)

Penicillin, a wonderful plaster!

Friedrich Flachsbart   (24 October 2003)

Acute Rheumatic Fever or Kawasaki, the case of Tony Blair. 20 October 2003
Friedrich Flachsbart, General medicine 37085 Göttingen Send response to journal: Re: Acute Rheumatic Fever or Kawasaki, the case of Tony Blair.	Dear Sir, the common disease of the commons is common cold. In my view children and adults suffer from cold. The little girl suffers, the prime minister suffers. April 14, 1999, when I visited Great Britain, the newspaper "The Express" wrote: "Britain gets the shivers. A sudden cold snap brought chaos to roads across Britain yesterday." "Heart problems hit 10 million pounds bank boss: .. he is suffering from arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat.." In my view they all suffer from silent occult streptococci, hidden follower of flu. And Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin, should be remembered. All the best to all of You Yours Friedrich Flachsbart Competing interests: None declared
Penicillin, a wonderful plaster! 24 October 2003
Friedrich Flachsbart, General medicine 37085 Göttingen Send response to journal: Re: Penicillin, a wonderful plaster!	Dear Sir, You cite Lord Howard W. Florey in this issue. Prof. Gustav Born, born 1921 in Göttingen, talked October 21. 2003 about his teacher Florey and the change of the medical world: Penicillin to survive streptococci. Prior to the banquet speech of the Nobel prize, Professor A.H.T. Theorell, director at the Nobel Institute of Medicine, addressed the laureate: "To you, Ernst Chain, Howard Florey and Alexander Fleming, I will relate one of Grimm's fairy-tales, that I heard as a child..." (Please remember, Grimm's fairy-tales are very close connected with Göttingen!) "You have dug up a wonderful plaster, too, that has healed countless sores. This achievement called for years of labour, unerring instinct, profound and wide knowledge, team-work and some luck. Your penicillin was made available to mankind during the biggest of wars; but it is unable to serve anything but peaceful purposes. It cannot kill a mouse, though it can heal a man." Streptococci are still the main offending pathogen. Streptococci evade the adaptive immunity. Streptococci induce a box of mutations to survive. Kawasaki Syndrome is a mutation most prevalent in Japan. Behcet's Syndrome is a mutation most prevalent in Japan. Polycystic Kidney Disease is a mutation most prevalent in Northern Europe, also associated with aneurysm. All these mutations are a way to survive streptococci. Penicillin should heal these countless sores. www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1945/florey-speech.html Sincerely Yours Friedrich Flachsbart Competing interests: None declared