Prophylactic Immunization Against Carrión's Disease

[摘要] 1. (1) The incidence of infection with Bartonella bacilliformis , and of clinical Carrión's disease in non-immune military personnel stationed at three points in the verruga zone is estimated on the basis of observations made by one of the authors (M. H.) during an 18-month period preceding the present experiment.2. (2) Preparation of formolized suspensions of B. bacilliformis , is described, these suspensions constituting the vaccine used herein.3. (3) A group of 22 guards without previous history of Carrión's disease, thus presumably non-immune, were inoculated subcutaneously with 1 ml of formolized vaccine prior to being stationed in the verruga zone. Most of these guards received one or two more injections of vaccine during the first two weeks of their service. The majority were followed by the authors for the ensuing seven months, blood for cultures and serum being taken from each guard on several occasions during this period of observation.4. (4) This subcutaneous inoculation of 22 humans with formolized suspensions of B. bacilliformis resulted in the appearance in their serum of a high titer of homologous agglutinins.5. (5) From the blood of twelve, or 55 percent, of these, B. bacilliformis was cultured on one or more occasions during the period of observation following vaccination. Five out of the twelve developed a mild degree of verruga eruption. All twelve had shorter or longer periods of mild systemic symptoms. Only one required hospitalization, being the sole member of the whole group who was at all incapacitated.6. (6) Comparison of these results with the observations made on unvaccinated guards during the 18 months preceding the present experiment warrants the belief that active immunization as here carried out, although not preventing infection, may definitely ameliorate the course of potentially serious Carrión's disease. The protective effect of the vaccine used is thought not to be directly related to the specific serum agglutinins which result from its administration. The exact mechanism of protection is not clear.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）