VIRULENCE AND BACTERIAL INFECTION 



BLAIR: I ask what the condition of the mice was at the 5° C 

 exposure. That is, after development of hypothermia, whether 

 they were lethargic or comatose or not just before they died? 



PREVTTE: You are referring to the control mice placed at 

 5^ C? 



BLAIR: No, the ones that were infected. 



PREVITE: Measurements weren't made following infection; 

 they were made following endotoxin injection. But these ani- 

 mals, after 6 to 12 hours with and LDg^ dose, were pretty sick. 

 They did not move in the cage. Within eight hours, one could 

 practically predict by its rectal temperature that endotoxin- 

 poisoned, cold stressed mouse which was going to die or survive. 

 Animals whose rectal temperatures dropped to as low as 29.5° C 

 always died. And those animals whose temperatures were 33° C 

 to 34° C or higher usually survived what was potentially a le- 

 thal dose of endotoxin. 



SCHMIDT: But in your third to the last slide, I think you were 

 showing us the effects of endotoxins on the temperature of the 

 animal, I may be mistaken, but as I recall, you were indicating 

 for your control animals at 25° C that the rectal temperature 

 Mvas 37.4° C, and then, as the hours progressed, the animals 

 at 5° C showed somewhat lowered rectal temperatures in the 

 range of 36° C, and then you said that at 24 hours, this difference 

 had been overcome. 



PREVITE: The difference between the 25° C group and the 

 5° C group? 



SCHMIDT: Yes, but what I think is significant is that the ones 

 at 25° C were now approximately 1° C lower in rectal tempera- 

 ture than they were when they started. In other words, you got 

 a fluctuation of 1° C normally, 



PREVITE: If you take the average without considering the de- 

 viation, yes, but if you compare these statistically, because of 

 the overlap from one mouse to another, there is no significant 



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