The Rôle of Convalescent Serum in Preparalytic Poliomyelitis

Summary and Conclusions The pathogenesis of poliomyelitis, as a disease transmitted by nerve fibers and entirely neurotropic, suggests the ineffectiveness of serum therapy. Additional experimental data concerning the use of large quantities of serum, or whole blood, in the various stages of the disease, give further evidence to its lack of value. Therefore, in serum therapy one is faced with two possibilities: Antibody can never reach the virus in the central nervous system. Still larger amounts must be used, e.g., hyperimmune horse serum, but from the data herewith given the likelihood of success with such a serum is slight.