A number of recent reports in the literature have told of cure of
psittacosis in man following enormous doses of
penicillin in the early stages of the disease. In most of these cases, however, the
infection was experimentally induced in laboratory studies. Given late and in inadequate amounts,
penicillin apparently has no beneficial effect. With a means of treatment at hand, and effective if started early, careful analysis of all cases of "atypical
pneumonia" is indicated with a view to determining if the infecting agent might not be the
psittacosis virus. A history of contact with birds or bird droppings should be sought in all cases of "atypical
pneumonia."A case is reported in which the patient, because of contact with birds, was suspected early of having
psittacosis. No benefit was noted following
therapy with 100,000 units of
penicillin every three hours for one day, but rapid recovery ensued when the dose was doubled.