Gordon Meiklejohn

Assay of aureomycin in body fluids; observations on individuals receiving aureomycin.

Summary 1. A serial tube-dilution method of determinations of aureomycin concentrations in body fluids using an hemolytic streptococcus as the test organism is described. 2. Serum levels of aureomycin ranged from 0.3 μg to 2.5 μg during a 6-hour period following the initial oral dose of 1 g. 3. Serum levels or aureomycin following doses of 1 g on subsequent days in patients receiving continuous therapy ranged from 0.3 μg to 20 μg during a 6-hour period. 4. Serum concentrations of aureomycin following the intravenous administration of 50 mg ranged from 0.6 to 5 μg 5 minutes after injection and declined gradually over a 6-hour period.

The Gold Agglutination Test in the Diagnosis of Primary Atypical Pneumonia.

Summary Significant titers of cold agglutinins were demonstrated in a large proportion of cases of primary atypical pneumonia. Similar titers were not observed in sera from patients with a number of other respiratory diseases.

Agglutination Tests with Streptococcus No. 344 in Primary Atypical Pneumonia.

The discovery by Thomas, Mirick, Ziegler, Curnen, and Horsfallr 1 that sera of patients convalescent from primary atypical pneumonia frequently agglutinate an indifferent streptococcus, labeled No. 344, has provided yet another method for investigating this disease. The fact that the streptococcus agglutinins persist for a long time when stored at 4°C has made it possible to investigate sera from patients with primary atypical pneumonia received at this laboratory since the summer of 1941. Results of the tests, together with certain observations correlating laboratory and clinical findings, form the subject of this report. Methods and Materials. The method described in the original report was followed without modification. Titers of 10 or more were considered significant. Sera were collected from students admitted to Cowell Memorial Hospital, University of California, Berkeley, and to the University of California Hospital, San Francisco; from patients admitted to certain west coast military establishments; and from scattered patients in the San Francisco area. Both early and late specimens were available in most cases. Those specimens taken during the first week of illness were considered acute. Convalescent specimens were collected between the twelfth and forty-fifth days. Clinical Observations. Cases were classified prior to this investigation on the basis of complete clinical records. The first day on which constitutional symptoms were noted was considered the day of onset. Criteria used in making a diagnosis of primary atypical pneumonia were (1) the history and course of the disease, (2) X-ray evidence of pneumonia, (3) a white blood count of less than 12,000 during the first week of illness, and (4) the absence of large numbers of pneumo-cocci in direct sputum examination. Cases in which only small numbers of pneumococci were seen and in which typing was accomplished only after mouse inoculation were not excluded if the course of illness suggested primary atypical pneumonia rather than pneumococcal pneumonia.

Experimental infection of domestic animals with Japanese B encephalitis virus.

Summary 1. Okinawan horses, goats, pigs, ducks, and chickens were inoculated intravenously with the virus of Japanese B encephalitis in order to obtain additional data regarding their role as natural reservoirs of disease. 2. Virus was recovered from the blood of pigs and ducks 24 hours after intravenous inoculation and was probably present for a longer period in chickens. 3. Two of 3 inoculated pigs died with characteristic signs of encephalitis while the third recovered after a long illness of a similar nature. Virus was not recovered from the brains of the animals which died. The other species showed no clinical evidence of infection. 4. Complement-fixing antibodies in experimental animals rapidly reached high levels, whereas neutralizing antibody levels rose more slowly.

A Comparison of various Methods of demonstrating Influenza Virus in Throat Washings.

Summary During the epidemic of influenza A in 1943-44, throat washings from military personnel were tested in ferrets or hamsters, or in both species, and a smaller number of the same washings were inoculated into chick embryos. None of the throat washings from 23 persons in whom response to serological tests for influenza A virus was negative produced antibodies to that virus after intranasal inoculation in ferrets. Of 30 throat washings from persons showing positive response to serological tests for influenza A virus, 17 (56.7 ± 9.05%) produced in ferrets an increase in antibodies to the virus. With 2 exceptions all ferrets showing an increase in antibodies also developed fever 2 to 3 days after inoculation. Four of 41 ferrets showing no increase in antibodies had similar febrile reaction. Thirty, or 56.6 ± 6.81% of 53 throat washings from persons with known cases of influenza A were positive in hamsters, a result identical with that obtained in ferrets. Twelve throat washings that were negative in ferrets produced no antibody response in hamsters. Seventeen throat washings shown to contain influenza A virus by tests in ferrets or hamsters were inoculated into chick embryos by the amniotic route. Of these, 7 (41.2 ± 11.9%) infected the embryos. Virus was demonstrated in 4 throat washings in the first passage and in 3 in the second, but usually 1 or 2 additional amniotic or allantoic passages were necessary before the virus reached sufficient titer to be positively identified as influenza A. In 2 of 13 unfiltered throat washings inoculated into the allantois of chick embryos, virus was demonstrated on first passage.