Abstract
Summary
The above results indicate that reverse interference between simian and murine virus occurs with about the same frequency in rodents as direct interference between murine and simian virus in monkeys. The phenomenon may therefore be said to be reciprocal in character. Adjustments in the quantities of both viruses or variations of the time interval may further improve the efficiency of the reaction. In judging these results it must be borne in mind that successful operation of the interference phenomenon depends upon a delicate balance between the ability of the interfering virus to occupy susceptible cell receptors and the invasive potency of the challenging virus. It is therefore, perhaps, not without importance that the two strains of simian virus employed successfully in this work were passage strains of unusual virulence. One experiment with simian virus of lesser virulence has given less clear cut results. Leaving alone the question of its specificity, it therefore seems doubtful whether this reaction can be used for diagnostic purposes to detect virus in human cases of the disease without resorting to some form of preliminary concentration of the pathological material (faeces, blood, nerve tissue, etc.).
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