THE CUTANEOUS TRICHOPHYTIN REACTION

There exists a far-reaching analogy between the cutaneous trichophytin reaction and the cutaneous tuberculin reaction. Both indicate that the organism is the seat of a definite infection or that it has passed through such an infection. Both may persist for a long time after the active disease has come to rest, indicating that the infection has left the organism in a state of altered reactivity—allergy. Under certain conditions both may be of diagnostic value, but since the reaction persists for a long time after the infection has passed, the negative reaction may be of greater value, excluding the existence of a specific infection. The analogy of the trichophytin reaction with the tuberculin reaction is not only limited to the obvious clinical manifestations, but, as in the tuberculin reaction, it can be shown that with uniform concentration of antibody, the intensity of the reaction is dependent on the concentration of the trichophytin. A tentative explanation of the halo formation is offered, based on a rapidly renewed formation of antibody stimulated probably by the entrance of a small amount of allergen into the general circulation.