A Study of an Ocular Infection Induced Experimentally with Bacterium Monocytogenes

Abstract

For the eyes of laboratory animals, B. monocytogenes possesses a remarkable infectivity, most severe for guinea pigs, less so for rabbits and monkeys. The severe type of reaction, as it occurs experimentally in guinea pigs, consists of an acute conjunctivitis, exudate, and turbidity and vascularity of the cornea. Pathologically, the infection is characterized by a massive infiltration of the conjunctiva and cornea with monocytes, and by the appearance of congested capillaries which give the appearance of pannus in the cornea. Although the infection remains localized in the inoculated eye, a study of the circulating blood revealed occasional instances of a distinct mononucleosis which did not, however, parallel the clinical symptoms. Animals recovered from an eye infection, exhibited some local resistance to subsequent reinfection with the organism. From the Bacteriological Laboratories of the Oscar Johnson Institute, Washington University, School of Medicine. Conducted under a grant from the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. For the eyes of laboratory animals, B. monocytogenes possesses a remarkable infectivity, most severe for guinea pigs, less so for rabbits and monkeys. The severe type of reaction, as it occurs experimentally in guinea pigs, consists of an acute conjunctivitis, exudate, and turbidity and vascularity of the cornea. Pathologically, the infection is characterized by a massive infiltration of the conjunctiva and cornea with monocytes, and by the appearance of congested capillaries which give the appearance of pannus in the cornea. Although the infection remains localized in the inoculated eye, a study of the circulating blood revealed occasional instances of a distinct mononucleosis which did not, however, parallel the clinical symptoms. Animals recovered from an eye infection, exhibited some local resistance to subsequent reinfection with the organism. From the Bacteriological Laboratories of the Oscar Johnson Institute, Washington University, School of Medicine. Conducted under a grant from the Commonwealth Fund of New York City.