Abstract
Summary and Conclusions
Specific diagnostic complement-fixing antigens for Colorado tick fever have been prepared from infected mouse brains. The benzene-extracted antigens employed gave no false positive reactions in the presence of highly positive human syphilitic sera. Cross fixation tests between Colorado tick fever immune serum and the heterologous antigens of viral and rickettsial origin indicate that Colorado tick fever is a distinct entity and the virus is not related to any of the other infectious agents tested. These results confirm those obtained with the mouse neutralization test previously reported.13,14 Close correlation was obtained in the complement-fixation and mouse neutralization tests with human convalescent sera. The complement-fixing and neutralizing antibodies apparently appear in the blood of humans at about the 9th to 14th day after diagnosis of illness and may remain demonstrable as long as 34 months later.
The complement-fixation test, as well as the mouse neutralization test, may prove of value in epidemiological studies on the incidence and geographic distribution of Colorado tick fever. Furthermore, if results with animal sera parallel those obtained with human sera, the tests may be applied to study the ecology of Colorado tick fever.
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