Abraham Horwitz, MD, was a prominent leader in Public Health in the Americas. His career started as a clinician and researcher in infectious diseases. then as a teacher in two Chilean Universities, one of the organizers of the Public Health Service in Chile and, subsequently, a prominent staff member in the Pan American Health Organization, becoming its Director during four consecutive terms. His outstanding career was recognized worldwide with several honorary awards and distinctions. Dr. Horowitz is recognized as one of the most distinguished and influential individuals in Medicine, in the American Continent, during the 20th Century.

Classic sepsis is characterized by the presence of bacteria in blood originating from a primary infection site with secondary location at other sites. Some infectious diseases like typhoid and paratyphoid fever, brucellosis an others share this pathogenetic mechanism but have a characteristic clinical course and usually a good prognosis. After analyzing the differences between the 2 types the author proposes the terms "non specific" and "specific" for each type of sepsis, respectively, The differences between the 2, the organism involved and different reaction of the host in types, may be related to different pathogenetic effects of each case.

Elaborating on the use of the terms sepsis, septicemia, bacteremia and septicopyemia, the author stresses the importance of precise concepts and correct terminology to describe clinico-pathological entities with different pathogenesis. The significance of this attitude for medical teaching is discussed.

Elaborating on the use of the terms sepsis, septicemia, bacteremia and septicopyemia, the author stresses the importance of precise concepts and correct terminology to describe clinico-pathological entities with different pathogenesis. The significance of this attitude for medical teaching is discussed.

At the present time chloramphenicol is the drug of choice for the treatment of acute typhoid and paratyphoid fever. The death rate of typhoid fever has been reduced from 10 0/,0 to 0.5 0, in our hands. Severe complications are now less frequent; this way elimination of the infection relies upon the normal temperature within an average of five days. This excellent antibiotic, however, has the disadvantage of acting bacteriostatically, and in this way elimination of the infection relies upon the normal bodily defensive mechanisms of the patient. This mode of action has caused a considerable number of convalescent carriers, temporary or permanent (Jersild et al., 1959 Erlik and Reitler, 1960), and a high figure of recurrences (10%0 to 18 %) according to our own experience (Kraljevid et al., 1952, 1957) and that of others 'Smadel et al., 1949 ; El Ramli, 1953 ; Meneghello et al., 1954; Watson, 1957 ; Lantin et al., 1963). Furthermore, treatment with chloramphenicol is not without risks. There is the " impression," which is not well supported by documentation, that the poor response to chloramphenicol which is observed in some cases could well be due to a lower sensitivity of some strains of Salmonella typhi and S. paratyphi to the antibiotic. It was hoped that the disadvantage of chloramphenicol in the treatment of typhoid and paratyphoid fever could be eliminated by the use of an antibiotic, such as ampicillin (a-amino-benzylpenicillin; Penbritin). This semi-synthetic penicillin has a higher activity in vitro than that of chloramphenicol against the various strains of salmonellae (Brown and Acred, 1961; Rolinson and Stevens, 1961 ; Bullock, 1963 ; Pettersson et al., 1964), and with a considerable bactericidal activity (Rolinson and Stevens, 1961 ; Kaye et at., 1963). Furthermore, tests in animals and in humans have demonstrated its lack of toxicity (Brunfitt et al., 1962 ; Ross et al., 1962 ; Klein and Finland, 1963). This paper reports our experience of the treatment of typhoid and paratyphoid fever with ampicillin.