520 IMMUNOLOGY 



Slater and Jordan's Studies of the von Pirquet and Mantoux 

 Tests. — Slater and Jordan (1932) made a comparative study of 

 the von Pirquet and Mantoux tuberculin tests in school children. 

 For the former they employed Koch's old tuberculin and the 

 usual von Pirquet technique. In conducting the Mantoux test they 

 injected intracutaneously 0.1 c.c. of a 1 :1,000 dilution or approxi- 

 mately 0.1 mg. of Koch's old tuberculin and read the results forty- 

 eight hours later. Both tests were given at the same time, one on 

 each forearm. In all they tested 1,006 white children of whom 

 134 reacted to one or both tests. It is of interest to note that a 

 physical examination and x-ray plates of the chest of each of the 

 134 positive reactors revealed lesions of tuberculosis in only fifteen 

 individuals. In regard to the relative delicacy of the two tests 

 they report that of the 134 giving positive tests 42 reacted to the 

 Mantoux but not to the von Pirquet, 63 reacted to both, while 29 

 were positive to the von Pirquet but not to the Mantoux. These 

 children were all from schools in a district where during the last 

 five years the death rate from tuberculosis has been less than 25 

 per 100,000 population. In contrast to this they tested 62 children 

 from 19 families in which known cases of open tuberculosis were 

 present. Fifty-one of the children reacted to one or both tests. 

 Of these positive reactions six were to the Mantoux but not to the 

 von Pirquet and two to the von Pirquet, but not to the Mantoux. 

 In the author's opinion both tests are good, but not infallible, the 

 Mantoux being more sensitive and perhaps better adapted for older 

 children, while the von Pirquet gave good results with younger 

 children. 



Survey to Determine Primary Tuberculosis Infection Attack 

 Rate. — Stewart, Harrington, Myers, Boynton, and Streukens 

 (1939) employed 0.1 mg. of old tuberculin intradermally to test 

 3,868 persons, representing five different groups. Thej^ estimate 

 that the children tested became infected with tubercle bacilli at 

 the rate of 0.8 per cent of the group annually. The parents had 

 an attack rate of about 1.6 per cent annually. Among college 

 students they report that 5.8 per cent became sensitive to tubercu- 

 lin during their four-year course at the university. The most dis- 

 turbing figures they give pertain to medical students. They state 

 that of 265 who gave negative reactions to 0.1 mg. of old tuberculin 

 at the beginning of their senior year, 118 Avere positive at the end 



