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Concerning the Familial Occurrence of Immediate Wheal Reactions Caused by Antigenic Stimuli¹

From the Department of Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York

Abstract

Schick tests and immunization with a single uniform dose of fluid diphtheria toxoid were carried out in two groups of persons who had not knowingly been exposed to toxoid during the preceding 5 years: a) 57 individuals with a personal or familial history of allergy, and b) 91 persons with no history of allergy. In confirmation of earlier results, it was found that immediate wheal reactions, when present, occurred in Schick negative persons but not in Schick positive persons. A history of allergy was found to be of significance in the occurrence of wheal reactions which developed in Schick negative subjects in response to toxoid.

Most skin reactions were mild to moderate and were unaccompanied by reagins in the circulating blood.

In confirmation of other workers, the present study indicated that personal and family histories of allergic diseases occur more frequently together than a family history in the absence of personal involvement, or a personal history in the absence of familial disease.

Footnotes

¹ This study was aided in part by grants from the United States Public Health Service and the American Heart Association.

² Career Investigator of the Health Research Council of the City of New York (Contract I-121).

Previous address: Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.