Abstract
Shigellosis is an enteric infection in which bacteria are restricted to the intestinal lumen and mucosa, and deeper systemic invasion is rare, even in nonimmune individuals. Spontaneous recovery is common, and subsequent resistance to reinfection may occur, but field trials with parenteral vaccines have shown systemic antibodies to be nonprotective. However, the effectiveness of oral vaccines suggests that local or intestinal immunity may exist. Since previous studies have shown large quantities of secretory IgA to be present in Shigella diarrhea stools (1), it seems possible that local immunity may be mediated by this immunoglobulin. The following studies investigate direct serum killing as one possible mechanism through which secretory IgA could exert an anti-Shigella effect.
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