Diagnostic value of the oxyphilic inclusions in influenza

The dynamics of the number of oxyphilic inclusions (OI) and the titer of influenza antigen (IA) was investigated in experiments on 350 albino mice infected with A2 (Hong Kong) 68 influenza virus. The accumulation of IA in the trachea took place parallel with the appearance of OI. IA appeared before OI in the cells of the alveolar epithelium, especially in animals infected with average doses of the virus. The biphasic dynamics of its discovery in the respiratory organs characteristic of this strain of influenza virus correlates exactly in time with the 2 peaks of IA activity in the trachea on the 4th day and in the lungs on the 7th–8th day after infection. The discovery of IA, like the detection of OI in the affected lung tissue, is of diagnostic importance, for it reflects the dynamics of the viral infection.