Evening star., 1955-02-28
Health Service Finds
Six New Viruses
Invisible Bugs Believed
Couse Of Respiratory Ills
By Thomos R. Henry

Six new ultramicroScopic, disease.
causing 'bugs" have been found by
United States Public Health Services
scientists.
They are believed responsible for O
great amount Of hitherto undiagnosed.
or falsely diagnosed, illness. The most
notable malady partially traced to one
Of them is primary atypical pneumonia
which has been quite prevalent In Army
camps.
All these agents affect the respira-
tory system and cause conditions re-
corded as catarrh. grippe, conjuncti-
Wits and summer cold. One group
may play q primary role in tonsilitis
and infections Of the adenoids.
All are filterable viruses. of the same
class as the agents causing polio and
a host of highly fatal maladies. They
are so small that they cannot be seen
with the most powerful optical micro
scope. They exist on the ultimate bor-
derline Of life. Outside body cell
they act as if they were nonliving.
Inside cell they show the character
istics of living organisms, especially
the ability to multiply very rapidly.
Future Protection.
They have been designated as APO
agents. All produce antigens in the
blood which protect, to some extent.
against future attacks Almost every
body has been infected with one or
more of them, according to report by
Drs. Robert j. Heubner and Wallace P.
Rowe of the Public Health Service and
Thomas G. Ward of Johns Hopkins.
A survey in one large city, for ex-
ample, indicates That so per cent OF
infants under one year have been in
fected with at least one type. Under
the age of IS, the average person has
suffered from two or more types and
most persons Of IS have had infections
from at least four types.
Each type causes quite different set
of symptoms. One has been recovered
in persons with gfippe-like symptoms.
Five of the new viruses apparently play
some part, different in each case. in
chronic diseases of tonsils and ade-
noids.
During the past year one investiga.
ton showed that the viruses were pres
ent in II per cent of recruits in one
company at Fort Dix. About quarter
of the infected men developed illnesses
severe enough to require hospital treat
ment Half developed very mild or
inapparent illnesses.
Strikes Any Time.
The atypical pneumonia virus ap-
parently attacks at all seasons in
striking contrast to influenza, possibly
due to a somewhat similar organism,
which ordinarily strikes only during
the cold months. This virus attacks
preferably during the middle years. 1t
appears to be very rare in children and
old people.
It is believed to have been responsible
for a condition commonly encountered
by Army doctors during the last war
which was designated as febrile catarrh
or merely as "acute respiratory disease
Of recruits"
Others in the group are blamed for
the condition known as summer sore
throat" Two have been designated as
"adenoid degeneration" viruses.
None appears to cause any fatalities
or very prolonged illnesses. A peculi-
arity of viruses. however, is their tend
ency to be transmitted into new forms
more often than are other disease
causing agents. Some of these forms
suddenly may become extremely viru-
lent. The 1918 flu epidemic, for ex-
ample, may have been due to newly
arisen strain Of virus whose effects
usually are not serious.