Serological Epidemiology: Antibody Patterns in North Alaskan Eskimos

Abstract

Summary A series of antibody determinations has been carried out for epidemiological purposes on 242 blood samples covering a wide age distribution, and collected from a semi-remote Eskimo colony on the north coast of Alaska. This population was chosen in the belief that its relative isolation had kept the members relatively free from frequent exposure to some of our common acute infectious diseases. The so-called specific antibody tests employed have included: the neutralization test for Lansing poliomyelitis virus and for some of the Coxsackie viruses; complement fixing antibodies to the mumps virus; antistreptococcal enzyme tests; complement fixing antibodies to Trichinella spiralis, and tests for syphilis. “Non-specific” tests have included the measurement of gamma globulin by chemical means, and sheep cell agglutinin titrations. In a few of the tests herein reported, significant deviations from expected patterns appear. These deviations were usually manifested by a delay in the age at which a given antibody appears, and the speed with which it builds up to what we have arbitrarily termed “usual adult levels.”. Implications as to a more general use of the methods used are discussed.