PFEIFFER'S BACILLUS AND INFLUENZA : A SEROLOGICAL STUDY

Abstract

It has been shown that the sera of patients convalescent from influenza yield reactions for agglutinins, precipitins, and complement-binding bodies with antigens of Pfeiffer's bacillus. These reactions appear constantly at the end of the 1st week, increase in intensity during the 2nd week, and remain demonstrable for a period of 2 to 4 months. They were most complete in the sera of patients suffering from postinfluenzal pneumonia. It has also been demonstrated that the strains of Pfeiffer's bacillus isolated during the epidemic were morphologically and biologically similar to the strains isolated from influenza cases in other years, and antigenically they differed from them only quantitatively. The patients' serological reactions indicate the parasitic nature of the bacillus, but are not sufficiently stable and clean-cut to signify that Pfeiffer's bacillus is the specific inciting agent of epidemic influenza. They do, however, indicate that the bacillus of Pfeiffer is at least a very common secondary invader in influenza, and that its presence influences the course of the pathological process.