The virus neutralization and complement-fixation techniques were compared to evaluate their usefulness for demonstrating the serologic response of persons infected with some Group A Coxsackie viruses. Cases of herpangina and contacts harboring virus developed type specific neutralizing antibodies against the immunologic types responsible for the infections. The cases developed heterotypic complement-fixing antibody elevations against types not responsible for their infections. Similar elevations were not encountered in serums from other febrile illnesses. The presence of complement-fixing antibodies did not confer protection on several of the contacts in whose serums they occurred prior to infection. In paired serum specimens drawn at yearly intervals from control individuals there was little correlation between the presence of neutralizing and complement-fixing antibodies. The significance of these observations has been discussed.
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