DUAL NATURE OF RESISTANCE MECHANISMS AS REVEALED BY STUDIES OF ANTHRAX SEPTICEMIA

Abstract

Klein, Frederick (Fort Detrick, Frederick, Md.), Bertram W. Haines, Bill G. Mahlandt, Ira A. DeArmon, Jr., and Ralph E. Lincoln. Dual nature of resistance mechanisms as revealed by studies of anthrax septicemia. J. Bacteriol. 85:1032-1038. 1963.-From studies of septicemic anthrax, resistance was described in relation to toxin and to growth of bacilli. This description was based on the observations that the terminal concentrations of bacilli in the blood were influenced primarily by the susceptibility of the host to toxin, whereas the death-response time of the host was dependent on both resistance to bacilli and toxin susceptibility. Resistance to the establishment and growth of infecting organisms and susceptibility to the toxin produced by growth of the bacilli are separate aspects of pathogenesis. A complete description of pathogenesis must accordingly treat of both these phenomena as individual entities.