FROM THE DIARY OF A PHYSICIAN WHO SUSTAINED EXPERIMENTAL PLAGUE,
Abstract
Experiments were staged on 1240 guinea pigs. Subcutaneous, skin, conjunctival and combined (simultaneous subcutaneous and conjunctival) methods of vaccination with the EB Past. pestis strain were compared. The conjunctival and combined methods proved to be the best. On this basis the doctor vaccinated himself by the combined method and 15 days later infected himself by rubbing the organ tissue of a guinea pig which perished from plague into the scarified skin of the leg. In 5 days a scab was removed from the site of infection under which a plague ulcer had formed. On the 7th day temperature rose up to 38.6C and remained high for 36 hours. On the 8th day a regional bubo formed with characteristic tenderness. Material for seeding and guinea pig inoculation was periodically obtained from the ulcer. Seven standard plague strains were isolated from the ulcer and one from the guinea pig in 6, 7, 8 and 9 days. The blood, sputum, and urine cultures were negative. All the strains isolated retained their initial properties including virulence. The results of observations led to a conclusion that subcutaneous-conjunctival vaccination provided an adequate resistance to Past. pestis and therefore could be recommended for vaccination of the population. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1963
- Accession Number
- AD0616972
Entities
People
- V. P. Smirnov
Organizations
- United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories