Studies on Immunity to Measles.

Abstract

In 1925, Tunnicliff, 1 working with the diplococcus she had isolated from cases of measles, found that almost invariably a skin reaction was produced in persons who had not had measles, whereas in individuals who had had the disease. 96 per cent gave no reaction. Her antigen was a culture of organisms grown anaerobically in 1 per cent dextrose broth to which was added ascitic fluid, killed with 0.5 per cent phenol. Ferry and Fisher, 2 with an organism probably the same as Tunnicliff's, tested 35 individuals with negative measles history, and found 14 gave positive skin reactions. Thirty children who had had measles gave a negative reaction.

In the present studies, the 24-hour bouillon culture filtrate for organisms isolated by blood culture and prepared by Duval was used. Two-tenths of a cubic centimeter of a dilution of 1 to 10 was injected intracutaneously with the following results. In a home for children, with 18 children without record of having had measles, 17 gave positive reaction varying in size from 1 by 1.5 cm. to 2.5 by 5 cm. One child was negative, and on going over this child's record it was found that he had had measles. One child with a 3 by 2 reaction developed measles the day following the reading made 18 hours after the injection. Eight students with a history of measles were tested, and two gave a faint questionable reaction. One was subsequently retested with a dilution of 1 to 2 and gave a strongly positive reaction. Thirteen small children in the Charity Hospital were tested and 8 gave a positive and 5 a negative reaction. Three of the patients with a positive reaction sttbsequently developed measles. One of the children with a negative reaction was kept for 3 weeks in the measles ward without developing the disease.