The Etiology of Epidemic Pleurodynia: A Study of two Viruses Isolated from a Typical Outbreak

[摘要] In the late summer of 1947, an outbreak of epidemic pleurodynia occurred in the Boston area. The intracerebral inoculation of one day old mice with throat washings collected during the outbreak resulted in the isolation of four strains of virus. Two of the strains have been studied in detail, and have been shown to be similar in their pathogenic and immunologic properties. Mice are completely susceptible during the first two days of life. Following intracerebral inoculation of 100 LD50 such animals die in three to six days with characteristic lesions of the liver and frequently of the pancreas. Specific neutralizing antibodies against the two viruses developed during the course of the illness in each of the two patients from whom they were isolated. Likewise, a rise in neutralizing antibodies for both agents was demonstrated in paired specimens of serum from 5 additional patients with epidemic pleurodynia. These findings indicate that these viruses are of human origin and played an etiologic role in the epidemic. An antigenic relationship between these agents and one of the strains of the Coxsackie group of viruses isolated by Curnen, Shaw and Melnick has been established.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）