Edward L. Buescher

Recovery of rubella virus from army recruits.

Summary A virus recognized by its capacity to multiply in grivet monkey kidney cultures and to interfere in such cultures with subsequent multiplication of ECHO-11 virus, was isolated regularly from military recruits with rubella, but rarely from those hospitalized at the same time and place with scarlet fever. The newly recovered virus multiplied consistently in primary and continuous grivet kidney cultures. The virus was filterable, sensitive to heat and organic solvents, and immunologically distinct from a number of other chloroform sensitive agents. Neutralizing antibody often was present in acute phase sera of patients with rubella and regularly increased significantly during convalescence in patients yielding the virus.

Identification of the Antiviral Substances in Nasal Secretions

Summary Antiviral activity of nasal secretions was studied using 8 different viral agents and secretions collected from 10 normal adults and 7 persons with acute respiratory symptoms. Neutralizing activity of nasal secretions correlated well with the presence of serum antibody to each virus tested. Immunoelectrophoretic preparations and im-munoglobulin absorptions revealed γ1A-glo-bulin to be the predominant immunoglobulin found in normal nasal secretions although trace amounts of γ 2-globulin were occasionally found. Tn secretions from normals, antiviral activity was primarily associated with the γ1A-globulins. During acute respiratory infections a larger number of serum proteins were detected in nasal secretions and antiviral activity was predominantly of the γ2-globulin variety. The authors are indebted to Wilbur Burnette, J ohn Cope and Mrs. Sarah Brown for technical assistance. We wish to thank Drs. John L. Fahey and Elmer L. Becker who provided some of the antisera used.

Adenoviral Infection in Military Recruits

Field studies were made at Fort Dix, NJ, in 1966 and 1967 of the protective effect of oral live type 4 adenovirus vaccine against severe, incapacitating acute respiratory disease (ARD) in military recruits. The vaccine largely or completely eliminated type 4 adenovirus as the cause of such disease, but the suppression of type 4 by immunization was associated with replacement ARD that was caused by type 7 adenovirus in 1966 and by both type 7 and type 21 in 1967. The outbreak of ARD caused by type 21 was the first of its kind in the western hemisphere. The results of these studies show that adenoviral infection in military recruits cannot be controlled with a monovalent type 4 vaccine and that additional vaccines containing type 7 and probably other antigenic types will be required.

New Research on Influenza: Studies with Normal Volunteers: Combined Clinical Staff Conference at the National Institutes of Health

Excerpt Dr. Vernon Knight: Todays conference will consist of a description of three investigations of influenza in normal volunteers at the Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Juli...

AN ANALYSIS OF HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISEASE IN RECRUITS IMMUNIZED WITH ADENOVIRUS TYPE 4 AND TYPE 7 VACCINES

Abstract Dudding, B. A., F. H. Top, Jr., R. M. Scott, P. K. Russell and E. L. Buescher (Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, D. C. 20012). An analysis of hospitalizations for acute respiratory disease in recruits immunized with adenovirus type 4 and type 7 vaccines. Am J Epidemiol 95: 140–147, 1972.—Among 911 recruits immunized with live, oral adenovirus types 4 and 7 (ADV-4 and 7) vaccines, there were 149 hospital admissions to the acute respiratory disease (ARD) wards during the study. Eighteen admissions were not associated with ARD (15 rubella infections, 3 immunization reactions). Of the remaining 131 ARD admissions, 17 were complicated by pneumonia and 114 were judged to have uncomplicated ARD. Within the latter group, evidence for infection by a single respiratory pathogen was obtained from 68 admissions; 11 admissions were associated with multiple infectious agents; and 35 admissions yielded no infectious agent(s). Despite immunization, adenoviruses, primarily ADV-4, were still the most common cause of ARD. Among non-adenovirus associated ARD admissions, rhinoviruses were the most common (10), followed by influenza A2 virus (7), group A streptococci (2) and herpesvirus hominis (2). Thus, in this initial study of ARD among recruits immunized with ADV-4 and ADV-7 vaccines, no other respiratory pathogens emerged to replace adenovirus types 4 and 7 as the major causes of ARD in military trainees.

Clinical and Epidemiological Features of Coxsackie Group B Virus Infections

Excerpt Since Dalldorf and Sickles (1) first described Coxsackie viruses in 1948, 30 distinct serotypes have been identified. Twenty-four are classed in group A and six in group B by characteristic...

Hemorrhagic Disease in Rodents Infected with Virus Associated with Thai Hemorrhagic Fever

KLA 16 virus, recovered from a child with Thailand hemorrhagic fever, produces infant mouse, rat, and hamster disease that is characterized by spontaneous bleeding at multiple sites, notably in the gastrointestinal tract, and by marked abnormalities in hemostatic mechanisms. This virus differs in this respect from Chikungunya virus to which it is immunologically similar and from other Thai hemorrhagic fever viruses.

Challenge virus resistance and interferon produced in BS-C-1 cells by dengue virus.

Summary Infection of BS-C-1 cells by dengue virus produces resistance to challenge with polio virus type II. The interference is related to the production of an interferon which is released into the media following the time when maximal intracellular dengue virus titers are present. The interferon appears similar to other mammalian interferons and can be separated from the infectious virus by gel filtration with Sephadex G-200. The use of this method for isolation and identification of dengue viruses is discussed.