To the Editor: With respect to the article by Ferson in the Christmas issue of the Journal, a personal experience of an unwanted side effect which occurred in 1927 may be of interest.

I was a boarder at school, and four weeks before sitting for the Leaving Certificate examination I contracted a violent sore throat associated with a bodywide erythema similar to sunburn, but without any associated burning sensation. The doctor had no hesitation in diagnosing scarlet fever, and I was transferred to the Coast (now Prince Henry) Hospital, which was the infectious diseases hospital for leprosy, scarlet fever, diphtheria and the like.

I had asked if I could take my textbooks to the hospital, but was told that if I did they would be destroyed when I was discharged. I left the books at school, spent four weeks in isolation and returned to school with one weekend to prepare for the examinations — the results were quite disappointing!