Main Entry: Praus·nitz–Küst·ner reaction

Pronunciation: \ˈprau̇s-nits-ˈkuest-nər-\

Function: noun

: passive transfer

Prausnitz, Carl Willy (1876–1963), German bacteriologist. Prausnitz's career began with a series of positions at various institutes of hygiene and public health throughout Germany. His research centered on cholera, hay fever, general epidemiology, and the standardization of sera. Several of his publications dealt with hay fever toxins and antitoxins. In 1921 he demonstrated the transferability of local hypersensitivity by the intradermal injection of serum of an allergic person into a normal person.

Küstner, Heinz (1897–1963), German gynecologist. After holding positions at several medical clinics for women in Germany, Küstner went on to become a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and chief physician at a hospital in Leipzig. His areas of research included endocrinology, pregnancy, puerperal fever, and gynecology. In 1930 he published a study of job-related injuries to the reproductive system incurred by working women.