Some Epidemiological Aspects of Sensitivity to Histoplasmin and Tuberculin

Histoplasmin Sensitivity in Mississippi: A New Boundary

“…Tests performed as diagnostic studies were excluded in an attempt to avoid sampling error. This agrees with otlher studies which have determined that the rate of infection is slightly lower in women (5). The differenices in this study are not statistically significant.…”

“…The age distribution in the northern and southern sections was not determined, and it is believed there could be little variance between the two samples. Age, however, was not considered in evaluating results because the percentage of histoplasmin sensitivity is highest in the young adult and middle age groups composing most sanatorium admissions (4,5).…”

Future Developments in Mycological Investigative Methods

“…Until recently, histoplasmosis has been considered a highly fatal infection. Christie and Peterson (1945), Palmer (1945 and19461, andFurcolow, High, andAllen (1946), however, have shown that, in certain parts of the country, there is a high correlation between pulmonary calcification in nontuberculin reactors and positive skin tests to histoplasmin. If this skin-testing material proves to be specific (Emmons, Olson, and Eldridge, 1945;Howell, 1947), it will have shown that Histoplasma capsulaium also causes a primary benign type of infection and that the highly fatal form of the disease represents only a not too frequent secondary malignant type of infection.…”

Tuberculin Sensitivity of Young Adults in the United States

“…It is not inconceivable that women students on the whole generally come from a higher social stratum than men. The fact that the frequency of reactors is usually about the same among boys and girls up to high school age (17,18) points again to some form of selection as accounting for the differences between sex-specific rates in college students.…”