IV. INVESTIGATION OF C. DIPHTHERIAE
85
obtain stable suspensions of all C. diphtheriae strains. The first who dealt
with seroagglutination in C. diphtheriae was Nicholas (1896).
Early workers reported that the diphtherial bacillus was an antigenically
heterogeneous species, falling into two to eight types (Langer, 1916;
Durand, 1918, 1920a, b ; Havens, 1920; Smith, 1923; Eagleton and
Baxter, 1923). After the discovery of the three biotypes, Ewing (1933),
while investigating the relationships of type gravis strains, found four
groups, A, B, C, D. Robinson and Peenay’s (1936) results confirmed their
existence, discovered an additional serological type and named them types
I-v.
Tarnowslri (1942), subsequently found 11 gravis types, of which five
were identical to those of Robinson and Peenay. Like Murray (1935), he
found clear-cut serological differences between the three classical biotypes
and was able to classify a further five serological intermedius and 13
serological mitis types. Hewitt (1947) described 13 gravis types, two
intermedius and 40 different mitis types and observed a strict relationship
between serology and virulence.
Ferris (1950) by typing 794 strains in Australia was able to classify them
in 14 serotypes, namely: four gravis, two intermedius, and eight mitis
serotypes. He also made the general remark, subsequently confirmed by
many other workers, that serotype 11, which has a world-wide distribution,
contains mitis, as well as gravis type strains, and that they can be differentiated by carbohydrate fermentation and haemolysis. Kostjukova et al.
(1971) reports on the works of Delyiagina, Suslova and Pelevina, who also
found that a serotype I1 was prevalent everywhere in far-away regions of
the Soviet Union, as well as among strains from Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Far Eastern countries. I n Great Britain, type I was the most
common, in U.S.A. type V, and in Egypt type IV.
It is generally agreed that gravis strains display specific and clear-cut
agglutination reactions and the great majority of agglutinable strains has
been found among toxigenic strains.
Shortcomings of serological typing in epidemiological investigations are
the facts that a single serotype could be dominant in a country or region,
that the most non-toxigenic strains were inagglutinable, and cross-reactions
in the mitis and the intermedius groups could occur.
At present, it seems that the only recognised serogroup types are those
of Robinson and Peenay, inadequate, however, from a practical epidemiological point of view. Due to the antigenic heterogeneity, many
combined serological schemes of classification have been proposed, but
none has been adopted as an internationally standardised scheme.
85
obtain stable suspensions of all C. diphtheriae strains. The first who dealt
with seroagglutination in C. diphtheriae was Nicholas (1896).
Early workers reported that the diphtherial bacillus was an antigenically
heterogeneous species, falling into two to eight types (Langer, 1916;
Durand, 1918, 1920a, b ; Havens, 1920; Smith, 1923; Eagleton and
Baxter, 1923). After the discovery of the three biotypes, Ewing (1933),
while investigating the relationships of type gravis strains, found four
groups, A, B, C, D. Robinson and Peenay’s (1936) results confirmed their
existence, discovered an additional serological type and named them types
I-v.
Tarnowslri (1942), subsequently found 11 gravis types, of which five
were identical to those of Robinson and Peenay. Like Murray (1935), he
found clear-cut serological differences between the three classical biotypes
and was able to classify a further five serological intermedius and 13
serological mitis types. Hewitt (1947) described 13 gravis types, two
intermedius and 40 different mitis types and observed a strict relationship
between serology and virulence.
Ferris (1950) by typing 794 strains in Australia was able to classify them
in 14 serotypes, namely: four gravis, two intermedius, and eight mitis
serotypes. He also made the general remark, subsequently confirmed by
many other workers, that serotype 11, which has a world-wide distribution,
contains mitis, as well as gravis type strains, and that they can be differentiated by carbohydrate fermentation and haemolysis. Kostjukova et al.
(1971) reports on the works of Delyiagina, Suslova and Pelevina, who also
found that a serotype I1 was prevalent everywhere in far-away regions of
the Soviet Union, as well as among strains from Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Far Eastern countries. I n Great Britain, type I was the most
common, in U.S.A. type V, and in Egypt type IV.
It is generally agreed that gravis strains display specific and clear-cut
agglutination reactions and the great majority of agglutinable strains has
been found among toxigenic strains.
Shortcomings of serological typing in epidemiological investigations are
the facts that a single serotype could be dominant in a country or region,
that the most non-toxigenic strains were inagglutinable, and cross-reactions
in the mitis and the intermedius groups could occur.
At present, it seems that the only recognised serogroup types are those
of Robinson and Peenay, inadequate, however, from a practical epidemiological point of view. Due to the antigenic heterogeneity, many
combined serological schemes of classification have been proposed, but
none has been adopted as an internationally standardised scheme.