Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28529467›Full record

ArticleDose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society

Radiotherapy for Pertussis: An Historical Assessment.

Edward J Calabrese, Gaurav Dhawan, Rachna Kapoor

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Low dose radiation therapy as a potential life saving treatment for COVID-19-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology · 2020
    Review
  5. Death of the ALARA Radiation Protection Principle as Used in the Medical Sector.Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society
    Article
  6. Necrotizing Fasciitis: Low-Dose Radiotherapy as a Potential Adjunct Treatment.Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society
    Review
  7. X-Ray Hesitancy: Patients' Radiophobic Concerns Over Medical X-rays.Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society
    Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. 5 Reasons Why Scoliosis X-Rays Are Not Harmful.Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Application of Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation in Medical Therapies.Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society
    Article
  15. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Edward J CalabreseEnvironmental Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.
Gaurav DhawanResearch Compliance, University of Massachusetts, Mass Venture Center, Hadley, MA, USA.
Rachna KapoorSaint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ, USA.
Saint Barnabas Medical Center · USUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst · USVentureWell · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

X-ray therapy was used to treat pertussis/whooping cough during a 13-year period from 1923 to 1936 in North America and Europe. Twenty studies from clinicians in the United States reported that approximately 1500 cases of pertussis were treated by X-ray therapy usually with less than 0.5 erythema dose. Young children (<3 years) comprised about 70% to 80% of the cases, with the age of cases ranging from as young as 1 month to 50 years. In general, symptoms of severe coughing, vomiting episodes, and spasms were significantly relieved in about 85% of cases following up to 3 treatments, while about 15% of the cases showed nearly full relief after only 1 treatment. The X-ray therapy was also associated with a marked reduction in mortality of young (<3 years) children by over 90%. Despite such reported clinical success from a wide range of experienced researchers, the use of X-rays for the treatment of pertussis in young children was controversial, principally due to concerns of exposure to the thymus and thyroid even with the availability of lead shielding. By the mid-1930s, the treatment of pertussis cases via vaccine therapy came to dominate the therapeutic arena, and the brief era of a radiotherapy option for the treatment of pertussis ended.

Indexed as

history of sciencehormesispertussisradiotherapywhooping coughX-rays

Identifiers

PMID28529467
PMCPMC5424867
OpenAlexW2613908232

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.