[Isolation and characteristics of Shigella antigens during the course of dysentery].

In 2,436 fecal samples and 1,272 urinary samples taken from 633 patients with dysentery caused by S. flexneri, S. newcastle and S. sonnei, Shigella antigens were detected by means of the passive hemagglutination test with antibody diagnostic agents and the antibody neutralization test. The antigen-binding activity of shigellae in urine dynamically increased in the course of dysentery. The comparison of the parallel results of both serological tests made it possible to evaluate the dispersion of the released antigen: it dynamically increased in the course of the disease, this increase being particularly high in feces. The dispersion of Shigella antigens in urine was greater than in feces over the entire course of the disease. These regularities in the release of the antigens and especially the specific features of the serological tests determined the scheme of the serological diagnosis of dysentery by the indication of Shigella antigens.