The Neutralization of Animal Viruses

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Abstract
Summary: The statistical-kinetic theory of reactions is applied to the system of virus and its specific antibody. The mathematical model defines, without any additional assumptions whatever, the rate at which virus-antibody unions are formed and broken, as well as the equilibrium state of the system. Equations covering the effects of dilution, of altering the concentration of any component, and of competition set up between similar reagents are derived and solved explicitly. Based on this model, the biological action of antibodies is considered in the form of several equally likely alternatives. Choice of the appropriate mechanism of neutralization must rest on experiment. The methods available for the study of the neutralization of infectivity are shown to carry various systematic errors. The nature and magnitude of these is discussed, and means are proposed by which they can be either avoided or accounted for quantitatively.

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