A Continuous Flow Method of Exposing Antigens to Ultraviolet Radiation

Abstract

An apparatus is described in detail for the inactivation by u.-v. radiation of bacterial and viral suspensions for use as immunizing antigens. The important principle, as demonstrated by the authors, is the creation of a thin film of the material. This is accomplished by passing it through a continuously revolving cylinder tilted at a slight angle from the horizontal. A germicidal lamp placed in the center of the cylinder irradiates the suspension during its passage. In a limited number of tests, the antigenicity of rabies virus, typhoid cultures, and Shiga dysentery toxin inactivated by this method compared favorably with the same materials in-activated in the Oppenheimer-Levinson apparatus.