Histoplasmin Sensitivity among Siblings

Abstract

The material was taken from a survey of 16,000 school children in Kansas City, Mo. To eliminate the geographical factor only those children were used who had resided in Kansas City or environs all their lives. Only white children were studied. The families were divided into 2 groups[long dash]those where the oldest child was a reactor and those where the oldest child did not react. The report deals only with the siblings. The percentage of reactors in the 1st group was higher than those in the 2d group but the difference was less marked with the older siblings. After eliminating geographic, age, sex, and race factors there remains some factor which causes siblings of a reactor to show sensitivity to histoplasmin more frequently than siblings of a non-reactor. It is not likely that this factor is within the familial environment.