Abstract
On 583 children suffering from acute infection of the respiratory tract who were found in Tokyo area during the period of 2 years from January 1956 to February 1958 (67 single sample cases and 516 paired sample cases) 1, 194 specimens were collected, and they were examined for HVJ complement fixation test, HVJ hemagglutination inhibition test, cold hemagglutination, MG streptococcus agglutination, influenza A and B hemagglutination inhibition test and adenovirus and ornithosis complement fixation test. Thus, 46 paired sample cases were diagnosed as HVJ infection. Suspected HVJ cases were 6 of the paired sample cases and 10 of the single sample cases.
The rise in the HVJ complement fixing titer began usually at the end of the 1st week of the disease, and reached the maximum at the end of the 2nd week. It showed a tendency of declining thereafter.
The HVJ hemagglutination inhibition titer of the RDE untreated specimens from 26 out of 46 HVJ infection cases showed a tendency of rise after the 2nd or 3rd week. The rise was found slightly later compared with that of the complement fixing antibody titer. In the RDE treated specimens from 20 cases, as the result of the destruction of the unspecific agglutination inhibiting substance, the fluctuation in the antibody was found at the lower level compared with that in the untreated cases. It reached the maximum at the end of the 1st or 2nd week, and seemed to demonstrate a tendency to decline gradually thereafter.
As the result of the cross determinations of the complement fixing titer and the hemagglutination inhibiting titer on 5 clinically definitely diagnosed mumps cases and 5 HVJ infection cases, no correlation was found between the two diseases.
When the distribution of the antibody against Obayashi strain of HVJ in the healthy school children of Japan was investigated, the HVJ complement fixing antibody titer was less than 2 fold dilution in all of the 138 cases, and the HVJ hemagglutination inhibition titer of the same specimens untreated with RDE showed 32-256 in 80 and less than 32 in 58 out of 138 cases. In the cases with RDE treatment, the same cases showed 16-128 in 13 and less than 16 in 28 out of 41 cases.
In view of the above, the HVJ infection was considered to be fairly universal among the children of Japan.
