ACTIVE AND PASSIVE IMMUNITY AND PORTAL OF ENTRY IN POLIOMYELITIS

Excerpt

Attempts have been made to render Macacus rhesus monkeys immune to poliomyelitis by injecting the living virus,¹ killed virus,² virus attenuated by heat,³ virus attenuated by drying⁴ or virus attenuted by various chemicals (solution of formaldehyde,⁵ sodium ricinoleate,⁶ aluminum hydroxide,⁷ phenol⁴), by injecting weak strains of living virus⁴ or by injecting higher dilutions of more virulent strains.⁴ These antigens have been introduced percutaneously,⁴ intracutaneously,⁸ intratesticularly,⁹ intrasplenically,¹⁰ intracerebrally,¹¹ by way of the gastro-intestinal route¹² and by spraying the nose.¹³ Active immunization has also been tried by injecting virus in combination with immune serums obtained from monkeys,¹⁴ sheep,¹⁵ horses¹⁶ and human beings¹⁷ or by injecting neutralizing serums first and then virulent strains of the virus.¹⁸

The evidence on active immunization is confusing. Animals which have been immunized are presumed to have