Abstract
Summary
Complement fixation tests were performed on paired sera from infectious hepatitis cases and on single sera from persons not clinically ill with hepatitis. Antigens for the tests were prepared from prototype adenovirus 4 and from San Carlos no. 8, an atypical adenovirus type 3 isolated from a case of infectious hepatitis. Incidence of antibody varying from 61 to 67% was observed with the two antigens against acute and convalescent hepatitis sera. Geometric mean titers ranged from 1:14 to 1:17. However, only 4 fourfold increases in titer were demonstrated; twofold increases or decreases in titer and stable titers occurred most frequently. Incidence of antibody in control sera collected in various other geographic areas was 52 and 56% against adenovirus type 4 and San Carlos no. 8 antigens, respectively, with geometric mean titers of 1:12 and 1:14. These findings were not significantly different from those with the hepatitis case sera. No significant differences were observed between the reactions with prototype adenovirus 4 and San Carlos no. 8 antigens, despite the fact that the latter virus was isolated from a case of hepatitis. No clear evidence was obtained to indicate direct involvement of adenoviruses in the etiology of infectious hepatitis.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.