Factors Influencing Host-Virus Interactions. II. Alteration of Coxsackie Virus Infection in Adult Mice by Cold. ∗

Abstract

Summary

1. Exposure of adult mice infected with the Conn. 5 strain of Coxsackie virus to a cold environment resulted in an infection with a persisting viremia, high levels of virus in the liver, pathologic lesions in other organs as well as in the pancreas, and a uniformly fatal outcome. 2. A lethal infection was prevented by neutralization of the virus or passive immunization of adult mice with specific antiserum. 3. The LD₅₀ for adult mice at 4°C was approximately ten times that for suckling mice at 25°C. 4. It was demonstrated that to initiate a fatal infection exposure to cold had to be continuous and begun within a few days after virus inoculation.