Differentiation Of Actively And Passively Acquired Complement-Fixing Antibodies In Infants With Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection

Abstract

The complement-fixing antibody formed by infants in response to a primary RS virus infection has a different fixation pattern, with a higher antigen requirement, than antibody present in adult serum and maternal antibody in the serum of infants. Differentiation between actively and passively acquired antibodies in paired sera from single infants enabled serodiagnoses to be made in cases where the presence of maternal antibody would otherwise have obscured the development of the infant's own antibodies. Possible reasons for the differences in fixation pattern are discussed.