E. L. Klyucheva. Staphylococcemia as a cause of mental illness. - Russian Doctor, 1910, № 32

The described case of an acute mental illness confirms the view of the majority of psychiatrists that has recently taken shape on the causes of mental disorders, as a result of poisoning and self-poisoning of the body and, in particular, the central nervous system. A patient with severe heredity developed an acute mental illness with signs of amentia. With the development of the disease, attention was drawn to the fact that the patient's excited state coincided with the disappearance of her t ° and external signs of staphylococcal infection, in the form of paired, petechiae, osteomyelitis, etc., and, conversely, when these signs appeared, the patient's psyche improved. Microscopic and bacteriological examination of the blood revealed staphylococci (st. aebus). Based on this, the author comes to the conclusion that in this case, the cause of the disease was a staphylococcal infection, which, due to the severe hereditary condition in the patient, affected the central nervous system, which, in this case, represented the locus minoris resistentiae for the poison.