Observations on the Dissociation of Meningitic Strains of H. Influenzae

A homogeneous group of smooth, virulent, meningeal strains of H. influenzae was dissociated into rough avirulent variants. The rough variants were studied immunologically and were found to form a heterogeneous group of organisms. It is suggested that the well-known heterogeneity of the strains of Hemophilus influenzae isolated from the nasopharynx during epidemics of influenza may depend upon the dissociation of the smooth homogeneous form to the rough type characterized by extraordinary serological divergency.