Potentiation of Experimental Meningitis Due to Haemophilus influenzae by Influenza A Virus

When Haemophilus influenzae type b was given intranasally to infant rats, a very large dose was required to produce histologic evidence of meningitis in even half of the animals tested; meningitis developed in 16 of 31 rats that received 107 viable bacteria at the age of five days, However, when the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 1977-04, Vol.135 (4), p.641-645
Main Authors: Michaels, Richard H., Myerowitz, Richard L., Klaw, Rebecca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacteria
Dosage
Haemophilus influenzae
Haemophilus meningitis
Histology
Infections
Inoculation
Inoculum
Meningitis - etiology
Orthomyxoviridae
Rats
Viral meningitis
Viruses
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:When Haemophilus influenzae type b was given intranasally to infant rats, a very large dose was required to produce histologic evidence of meningitis in even half of the animals tested; meningitis developed in 16 of 31 rats that received 107 viable bacteria at the age of five days, However, when the animals first received influenza virus, the dose of bacteria required to produce meningitis was reduced 100-fold; meningitis occurred in 10 of 21 rats given virus at two days and 105 viable bacteria at five days. These results suggest that prior viral infection of the upper respiratory tract may be a factor in the pathogenesis of haemophilus meningitis.
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
DOI:10.1093/infdis/135.4.641