Comparative Sensitivity of the Extraneural and Intracerebral Neutralization Tests in Following the Antibody Response in Man to Vaccination with Western Equine Encephalomyelitis Virus

[摘要] The antibody response induced in man by vaccination with formolized Western equine encephalomyelitis virus was studied by means of extraneural and intracerebral neutralization tests.The usual intracerebral test was found to be highly unsatisfactory for this purpose due to its inability to detect small amounts of antibody, a factor which precludes accurate measurement of the humoral immune response. As a consequence of this lack of sensitivity, the results by this test were such that the only interpretation possible was that vaccination elicited either no neutralizing antibody response or a minimal one.By means of the extraneural test, however, it was possible to show that antibodies appeared as early as 2 weeks after vaccination, attained their maximal titer by 1 to 2 months, and then declined, to reach a low level by 9 or 10 months.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）