Abstract
Summary
Among the 32 volunteers who inhaled nebulized filtered garglings, symptoms developed in 17; of the 21 who inhaled nebulized stool filtrates, 11 developed symptoms. Of the combined groups of 53 volunteers, 28 (53%) developed symptoms as compared with 22 out of 240 (9%) of the rest of the student body in which the natural disease apparently occurred during the period of the tests. No attacks occurred in 6 volunteers who inhaled serum nor in 24 volunteers who were fed serum or filtrates of garglings or stools.
The results, considering the unideal circumstances during which the tests had to be made, suggest that the causative agent of the disease is filtrable, airborne, enters through the respiratory tract and is present in the oropharynx and stool but not in the blood. Tests are now being made in a nonepidemic period with material from the November epidemic preserved at −70°C.
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