Skip to main content
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1950 Jan 31;91(2):185–195. doi: 10.1084/jem.91.2.185

OHIO STRAINS OF A VIRUS PATHOGENIC FOR INFANT MICE (COXSACKIE GROUP). SIMULTANEOUS OCCURRENCE WITH POLIOMYELITIS VIRUS IN PATIENTS WITH "SUMMER GRIPPE"

Joseph L Melnick 1, Nada Ledinko 1, Albert S Kaplan 1, Lisbeth M Kraft 1
PMCID: PMC2135957  PMID: 15409906

Abstract

Further evidence for the widespread occurrence of Coxsackie or C virus is presented in this paper. This virus is characterized by paralysis and myositis produced in infant mice. An epidemic of mild illnesses diagnosed as "non-paralytic poliomyelitis" and as "summer grippe" occurred during the summer of 1947 in Akron and Cincinnati, Ohio. From the pooled feces of such patients both poliomyelitis virus and C virus were obtained. From the samples of single patients, 3 immunologically related strains of C virus were isolated. One patient from whom virus was isolated had an illness which was diagnosed as non-paralytic poliomyelitis (with pleocytosis). Although poliomyelitis virus could not be isolated from this patient, previous tests (5) from similar non-paralytic patients in the same area revealed that 9 of 23 were infected with poliomyelitis virus. C virus could not be recovered from the stools of 3 of these poliomyelitis virus-infected patients. Four patients with an illness diagnosed as "summer grippe" were tested. Two harbored poliomyelitis virus of low virulence (4) as well as C virus, and two harbored poliomyelitis virus without any evidence of infection with C virus, either by virus isolation or by serological tests. The patients from whom C virus was isolated developed complement-fixing antibodies 4 weeks after onset. Neutralizing antibodies appeared within the first 5 days of disease (before complement-fixing antibodies) and increased in titer during the next 3 to 4 weeks. The patients from whom C virus could not be recovered failed to develop either neutralizing or complement-fixing antibodies. Other patients in the area were infected with C virus as indicated by their serological response to the agent.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (572.7 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. CURNEN E. C., SHAW E. W., MELNICK J. L. Disease resembling nonparalytic poliomyelitis associated with a virus pathogenic for infant mice. J Am Med Assoc. 1949 Nov 26;141(13):894–901. doi: 10.1001/jama.1949.02910130008003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. DALLDORF G., SICKLES G. M. A virus recovered from the feces of poliomyelitis patients pathogenic for suckling mice. J Exp Med. 1949 Jun 1;89(6):567–582. doi: 10.1084/jem.89.6.567. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. MELNICK J. L., SHAW E. W., CURNEN E. C. A virus isolated from patients diagnosed as non-paralytic poliomyelitis or aseptic meningitis. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1949 Jul;71(3):344–349. doi: 10.3181/00379727-71-17186. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Mayer M. M., Osler A. G., Bier O. G., Heidelberger M. THE ACTIVATING EFFECT OF MAGNESIUM AND OTHER CATIONS ON THE HEMOLYTIC FUNCTION OF COMPLEMENT. J Exp Med. 1946 Nov 30;84(6):535–548. doi: 10.1084/jem.84.6.535. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. SABIN A. B., STEIGMAN A. J. Poliomyelitis virus of low virulence in patients with epidemic summer grippe or sore throat. Am J Hyg. 1949 Mar;49(2):176–193. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a119269. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. STEIGMAN A. J., SABIN A. B. Antibody response of patients with poliomyelitis to virus recovered from their own alimentary tract. J Exp Med. 1949 Oct;90(4):349–372. doi: 10.1084/jem.90.4.349. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES