Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T04:00:26.606Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Factors affecting the development of the carrier state in leptospirosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

S. Faine
S. Faine
Affiliation:
Department of Bacteriology, University of Sydney
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The growth curves of young mice experimentally infected with L. australis A, L. australis B, L. grippotyphosa or L. icterohaemorrhagiae fell into two types, a ‘lethal’ pattern of continued weight loss until death, or a ‘carrier’ pattern of retardation of weight gain. The ‘carrier’ pattern could be changed to the ‘lethal’ by increasing the size of the infecting dose of a given serotype, or vice versa. Infection with L. icterohaemorrhagiae in newborn mice was fatal, while adults became carriers; susceptibility to infection with L. australis B decreased with increasing age.

The numbers of infecting leptospirae and the age of the mouse determined the outcome of infection with a given serotype in a standard test animal. The basis of species susceptibility is unknown, but it is suggested that variation in the ability to produce lesions is the basis of the differences in virulence between serotypes. The ‘host of election’ in leptospirosis is regarded as the result of a quantitative rather than qualitative adaptation of host and parasite to one another.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 60 , Issue 4 , December 1962 , pp. 427 - 434
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1962

References

Alston, J. M. & Broom, J. C. (1958). Leptospirosis in Man and Animals. Edinburgh: E. & S. Livingstone Ltd.Google Scholar
Babudieri, B. (1958). Animal reservoirs of leptospires. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 70, 393.Google Scholar
Broom, J. C. (1953). Leptospirosis in tropical countries. Trans. roy. Soc. trop. Med. Hyg. 47, 273.Google Scholar
Emanuel, M. L. (1959). The susceptibility of mice to North Queensland strains of leptospirae. Aust. J. exp. Biol. 37, 17.Google Scholar
Faine, S. (1957 a). Virulence in leptospira. I. Reactions of guinea-pigs to experimental infection with Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae. Brit. J. exp. Path. 38, 1.Google ScholarPubMed
Faine, S. (1957 b). Virulence in leptospira. II. The growth in vivo of virulent Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae. Brit. J. exp. Path. 38, 8.Google Scholar
Faine, S. (1962). The growth of Leptospira australis B in the kidneys of mice in the incipient experimental carrier state. J. Hyg., Camb. 60, 435.Google Scholar
Gordon, Smith C. E., Turner, L. H., Harrison, J. L. & Broom, J. C. (1961 a). Animal leptospirosis in Malaya. 1. Methods, zoogeographical background, and broad analysis of results. Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 24, 5.Google Scholar
Gordon, Smith C. E., Turner, L. H., Harrison, J. L. & Broom, J. C. (1961 b). Animal leptospirosis in Malaya. 2. Localities sampled. Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 24, 23.Google Scholar
Gordon, Smith C. E., Turner, L. H., Harrison, J. L. & Broom, J. C. (1961 c). Animal leptospirosis in Malaya. 3. Incidence in rats by sex, weight and age. Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 24, 807.Google Scholar
Humphrey, J. H. & Fahey, J. L. (1961). The metabolism of normal plasma proteins and gamma-myeloma protein in mice bearing plasma-cell tumours. J. clin. Invest. 40, 1696.Google Scholar
Meynell, G. G. & Meynell, B. W. (1958). The growth of micro-organism in vivo with particular reference to the relation between dose and latent period. J. Hyg., Camb., 56, 323.Google Scholar
Neghme, A., Christen, R., Jarpa, A. & Agosín, M. (1951). Estudios sobre immunobiologia de las infermedades parasitarias. II. Susceptibilidad de cepas puras de ratones a la Leptospirosis experimental. Bol. Inf. parasit. Chile, 6, 4.Google Scholar
Proehoeman, S. (1930). Studies over de epidemiologic van de ziekte van Weil, over haren verwekker en de daraan verwante organismen. Thesis, Amsterdam. Quoted by VAN THIEL (1948), p. 117.Google Scholar
Rich, A. R. (1951). The Pathogenesis of Tuberculosis, 2nd ed., p. 714. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Rimpau, W. (1950). Die Leptospirose. Monographien der ‘Medizinischen Klinik’, vol. 8, p. 60. Munich: Urban & Schwarzenberg.Google Scholar
Smith, J. (1937). Vaccination of guinea-pigs and human beings against leptospiral infections. J. Hyg., Camb., 37, 261.Google Scholar
Stuart, R. D. (1956). The importance of urinary antibodies in the diagnosis of leptospirosis. Canad. J. Microbiol. 2, 288.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Uhlenhuth, P. (1943). Die Maus als Leptospirenträger, zugleich ein Beitrag zur Frage der Blutdifferenzierung verschiedener Mäusearten. Z. ImmunForsch. 104, 338.Google Scholar
Hoeden, Van Der J. (1954). The pathogenicity of leptospiras to field rodents in Israel (a new test animal for use in leptospira research). J. infect. Dis. 95, 213.Google Scholar
Thiel, Van P. (1948). The Leptospiroses, p. 117. Leiden: Universitaire Pers.Google Scholar
Weigle, W. O. (1957). Elimination of I131 labelled homologous and heterologous serum proteins from blood of various species. Proc. Soc. exp. Biol., N.Y., 94, 306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed