DETECTION OF A SILENT COXSACKIE B-5 VIRUS PERINATAL INFECTION

Perinatal infection was detected in a normal newborn infant whose mother developed pleurodynia 6 days before delivery. Coxsackie B-5 virus was recovered from the mother but not from the infant, whose infection was demonstrated only by measuring specific neutralizing antibody content in immunoglobulin fractions in sequential serum specimens. A rise in IgM (19S) globulins containing specific antibody occurred between 4 and 14 days of age, but by the time the infant was 8 months old, no antibody to Coxsackie B-5 could be demonstrated, indicating that the infection was probably a modified one which did not result in durable immunity. © 1969 The C. V. Mosby Company.