Virus excretion in smallpox. 2. Excretion in the throats of household contacts

Abstract

Throat swabs of 34 of 328 family contacts of 52 smallpox cases, examined 4-8 days after the onset of the disease in the family, were positive for variola virus. The log titre of virus per swab ranged from 2 to 3.95. A higher proportion of unvaccinated than of vaccinated contacts excreted the virus. Only 4 of the virus-positive contacts developed clinical smallpox; this occurred 5-7 days after their swabs were examined. Excretion of virus in the throats of these contacts, a few of whom were in the incubation period of the disease, suggests the possibility that they could have spread the infection. This possibility, if kept in mind, may help in tracing the source of infection or in determining the incubation period in a few instances when difficulty is experienced.