Abstract
The globulin fraction of the serum of rabbits, immunized with living Hemophilus pertussis, was shown to protect mice against experimental infection with this organism. 1 The intramuscular injection of doses of from 4 to 7 ml of the refined serum into infants, in the early stage of whooping cough, produced an immediate increase in both the mouse-protective and agglutinative titers of the infants' sera. 2 In certain instances, there seemed to be a beneficial effect upon the clinical course of the disease, and frequently a definite decrease was noted in the total number of mononuclear cells of the blood.
The present report concerns the prophylactic use of the antiserum† in 20 infants exposed to pertussis by family contact.
When an older sibling was found to have whooping cough, the exposed infant was given an intramuscular injection of from 2 to 10 ml of the concentrated antiserum (after preliminary testing for sensitivity). The exposed infant then remained at home in contact with one or more infected siblings, and was observed carefully by clinical examination. In 13 cases the presence of pertussis in the family was confirmed by nasopharyngeal culture.
In the group of 20 infants 13 (65%) were completely protected. Of the 7 infants who developed pertussis after receiving the serum, however, 5 experienced mild cases, whereas the disease was unmitigated in the other two. Furthermore, in 3 of these 7 instances, the infants began to cough 5, 5, and 4 1/2 weeks respectively after the serum was injected (the time of onset was not ascertained in 3 cases).
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