A survey of patients' reactions to intravenous Corynebacterium parvum therapy

A survey was made of patients' reactions to high dose (21 mg) Corynebacterium parvum therapy given intravenously over four hours. The patients completed a pro forma. Rigors were the commonest side effect complained of being present in nearly all patients (24/25) and being very severe in one-third (10/25). Other problems were nausea (15/25), vomiting (17/25), bone pain (12/25) and headaches (12/25). One-third also usffered with other less common side effects. Overall, patients felt the side effects were as disagreeable as those experienced with outpatient chemotherapy.