Rhinovirus infections in an industrial population. V. Change in distribution of serotypes. Am J Epidemiol 99: 58-64, 1974.-During a longitudinal study of rhinovirus infections in a population of insurance company employees, the distribution of serotypes changed. Antisera prepared against 89 rhinovirus serotypes and one subtype were used in combinatorial pools with a microtitration neutralization test. Two hundred sixty-five (79%) of the 337 strains isolated from March 1963 to September 1967 were represented by types 1A through 55. 49 (14%) by types 56 through 89, and 23 (7%) were untyped. In comparison, from August 1969 to March 1970 39 (49%) of 80 strains were represented by types 1A through 55. 19 (24%) by types 56 through 89, and 22 (27%) were untyped. These data suggest either that there is a very large number of antigenically stable rhinoviruses in existence or that previously recognized types have undergone changes in their antigenic composition and emerged as apparent new types. The latter possibility has some support from studies of other investigators which show antigenic variations among strains of the same rhinovirus type. Surveillance must be continued to obtain the final answer to this question.
A seed lot of strain SF 1684 of rhinovirus type 2 prepared in human embryonic lung cells (WI-38) contained aggregates which interfered with its neutralization by homotypic or homologous antisera. The same virus showed no evidence of aggregation at five other passage levels studied. Virus in the seed lot was not identified correctly, and the titer of homologous antiserum was mistakenly considered to be low as a result of neutralization tests conducted with the aggregated virus. Filtration and a more easily effected treatment with sodium deoxycholate (1%) disaggregated the virus and restored its susceptibility to neutralization by homologous and homotypic antiserum.
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