[An experimental study of immunity to hepatitis A in monkeys]

In this work the experimental model of hepatitis A on monkeys, adequate to human hepatitis A, was used. Ten monkeys (6 Macaca mulatta and 4 Cercopithecus aethiops) were reinfected with different doses of hepatitis A virus (HAV) a year after recovery from spontaneous and experimental hepatitis A. The monkeys were completely resistant to the inoculation of the virus in moderate doses (10(3) ID50). The inoculation of HAV in large doses (10(4)-10(5) ID50) induced a mild form of this infection in the animals with a transient rise in the level of serum alanin aminotransferase and HAV shedding in feces, but in the absence of morphological changes in the liver. It should be specially pointed out that after the reinfection of monkeys virus shedding in feces was observed, which may be of great epidemiological importance. After reinfection the absence of IgM and a pronounced rise in the titers of IgC antibodies were observed.