📄 Community-wide outbreak of infection with a 229E-like coronavirus in Tecumseh, Michigan

The occurrence of 229E-like virus infection in a natural population was determined by a survey of sera collected from families in Tecumseh, Michigan. Sera were studied by the complement fixation (CF) test, and a sharp outbreak of 229E- like virus infection was detected in the community in the spring of 1967. The serologic infection rate in a representative group of families, as determined by the combined results of both the CF and neutralization tests, was 34.0% during the periods studied. All segments of the population were affected. This virus tended to spread preferentially within families. Secondary cases were found in 17 of 26 families in which infection was detected; in all but one of the families in which the virus was introduced but did not spread, the single infection was in a person 15 years or older. Serologic evidence of infection was associated with an increased number of illnesses reported during February-April 1967; most of the illnesses were upper respiratory in character. The determination of CF and neutralizing antibody responses to 229E-like infection suggests that CF antibody to this virus remains elevated and detectable for a relatively short period of time after infection, while neutralizing antibody persists and remains detectable for a longer period of time than the CF antibody. The CF test may thus be used to detect infection with 229E virus if it is performed on sera collected shortly after infection, even in the absence of an acute-phase serum. The neutralization test may be used both to detect recent 229E infections and to determine an individual’s past experience with this virus. © 1970 by the University of Chicago.

keywords 🔗 antibody responses (58)

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