TEMPERATURE AND VIRAL INFECTION 



2 3 



DAYS 



Figure 4. Antibody response to Coxsackie virus infection in mice at 25" C ambient 

 temperature. Adult Swiss mice were given 280 infant mouse LD5Q 1. p. The antibody 

 titers from two experiments are plotted as separate curves. Antibody assays were 

 made in infant mice and antibody titers are expressed as the reciprocal of the serum 

 dilution that neutralized LD^q of virus. 



cortisone causes an aggravation of a number of viral infections 

 similar to that seen with exposure to cold. Administration of 2.5 mg 

 of cortisone to adult mice infected with Coxsackie Bl virus results 

 in a generalized and lethal infection quite similar to that produced 

 by exposure to cold (Boring, Angevine, and Walker, 1955). But 

 Boring and I (1958) were not able to produce similar effects by 

 treating mice with physiologically active dosesof ACTH. In addition 

 to this, the fact that short exposures to cold were not effective, that 

 adaptation of mice to cold did not nullify the effect, and that ex- 

 posure to the stress of heat caused an entirely different response 

 has led us to think that just the stressing effect of cold cannot ac- 

 count for its effect on viral infection, 



I have indicated some skepticism that inhibition of antibody pro- 



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