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Tests for Immunity to Acute Anterior Poliomyelitis¹

I. The Technic and Status of the Monkey Serumneutralization or Antiviral Test

From the Research Institute of Cutaneous Medicine, Philadelphia

Abstract

1. The only antibody known at present to bear a definite relationship to resistance and immunity in acute anterior poliomyelitis is that occurring in serum capable of neutralizing virus in vitro and designated as antiviral antibody.

2. The presence of an amount of this antibody in 0.5 cc. of serum neutralizing at least 10 minimal infective doses of monkey passage virus is believed to indicate effective resistance to poliomyelitis.

3. It is likely however that resistance to poliomyelitis may be present without demonstrable amounts of this antibody in the blood. This tissue resistance may be constituted by body cells sensitized to virus and capable of rapidly producing antibody upon infection or vaccination or represent a type of resistance due to "maturation immunity" or the physiological activity of the tissues.

4. The antibody varies greatly according to age being absent in the sera of the majority of children over six months of age and present in the majority of adults.

5. The antibody may be absent in the blood of recovered cases of poliomyelitis although one attack of the disease usually confers a solid immunity for the balance of life.

6. The technic of conducting antiviral tests has varied on the part of different investigators which has influenced the results reported.

7. The variable factors have been discussed and a technic described which is hoped will assist in evolving a standardized method so highly desirable at the present time.

8. The method is based upon the principle of expressing the amount of antibody in terms of the number of minimal infective doses of virus for Macacus rhesus monkeys inoculated intracerebrally, neutralized by 0.5 cc. of serum in an exposure of two hours at 37°C. in a water bath.

9. While this method is expensive and requires about three weeks for its conduct yet it is available as a practical test for determining susceptibility before vaccination against poliomyelitis. The spinal cords of monkeys developing the disease during the conduct of the test may be employed for the preparation of the Kolmer vaccine of attenuated virus for active immunization of human beings against the disease which greatly reduces the cost of the test since the cord of a single monkey furnishes sufficient vaccine for the immunization of 40 to 50 children.

Footnotes

¹ Aided by a grant from the Daniel J. McCarthy Fund for Research in Neurology of Temple University and two anonymous donations.