Better Than the Wassermann?

The widely used Wassermann test for syphilis has its faults. If the tested patient has recently been vaccinated, the Wassermann may be "positive" -- the standard indication of syphilis. It may also be positive if he has any one of a long list of diseases, e.g., chicken pox, measles, malaria, pneumonia, meningitis.

Robert A. Nelson, a young (26) Johns Hopkins bacteriologist, and his co-workers have taken the first steps toward developing a more accurate test than the Wassermann. In the blood of syphilitics, they found specific antibodies (counter-substances) against Treponema pallidum, the spirochete that causes syphilis. Announcement of their discovery caused a stir last week at a symposium held in Washington by the American Venereal Disease Association and the U.S. Public Health Service.

In the new test, spirochetes from syphilitic rabbits are mixed with human blood. When the antibodies are present in the blood, the energetic spirochetes stop moving and apparently die, indicating that the patient has syphilis. Therefore, Dr. Nelson called his substances "Treponemal immobilizing antibodies."

Dr. Nelson found that the blood of healthy people, lacking antibodies, had no effect on the spirochetes. He also tested 19 cases of diseases other than syphilis which had shown positive Wassermanns; all were negative by the Nelson test.

The new test is still experimental. In a year or so, thinks Dr. Nelson, it may be ready for general use. What is slowing him up is the difficulty of getting enough virulent spirochetes from rabbits. The work opens up the possibility of vaccination against syphilis. Says Nelson cautiously: "If enough spirochetes were available, then it might be possible that they could be so treated that they could be used as a vaccine."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.