[Detection of the etiologic agent of hemorrhagic fever with a renal syndrome in the lungs of wild rodents].

The results of the studies on wild rodents trapped in the areas of the Leningrad region visits to which were associated with human cases of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) are presented. In one of these areas 30% of bank voles were found to be infected. Specific fluorescence of high intensity was found in ctyostat sections of lungs from bank voles treated by the indirect fluorescent antibody procedure. Fluorescent granules, their clumps and large conglomerates were localized in the cytoplasm of alveolar epithelium cells. The antigen-containing cells formed foci within which 70% or more elements showed fluorescence or were found diffusely throughout the section (dozens of infected cells in each field of vision). The antigen-containing lung sections were used for the indirect immunofluorescence test with sera from the subjects clinically diagnosed as having HFRS. Positive results in titers ranging from 1 : 10 to 1 : 1280 were obtained in 6 out of 7 subjects examined. Examinations of paired sera from one of them revealed an over 100-fold rise in titers during the 3rd-7th week after the onset of the disease.