The Glenwood post., 1919-02-01
INFLUENZA IS
STILL A MYSTERY
Continued from page ~

Continued from page ~
There can be no doubt that these ex-
periments at Boston and San Francisco
were carried out with utmost thorough
ness. Lieutenant Commander Rosenau
of the navy medical corps and Surgeon
Joseph Goldberger of the public health
service were the officers in charge Of
the Boston experiment, which was made
at the quarantine station on Gallon
island. Forty-seven men were the sub
jects of this part of the experiment.
All of them had been more or less ex-
posed to the disease and 80 of them
had never had any bronchial disease.
This means that some of them may
have been naturally immune to influ-
enza, but it is not at all probable that
all of them were.
The first experiment consisted in
thoroughly injecting the noses of about
| 10 of the men with cultures of Pfeif-
fer's influenza bacillus-a virulent
germ commonly found in influenza.
None of the men developed any symp-
toms. The next form of the expert.
ment was to take the secretions from
the noses and throats of influenza pa
| tients and place them in the noses and
throats of the volunteers by means of
swabs and sprays. The time occupied
IN,
sick man and putting it into the nose
or throat of well man was reduced to
as little as 80 seconds. Yet none of
the men SO infected developed any
symptoms of the disease.
Determined that the tests should lie
exhaustive, the doctors next submitted
a group of volunteers to infection by
actual coughing and splitting. For this
purpose ten volunteers were selected,
and ten bed patients who had recently
come down with severe attacks of in
fluenza. Each of the volunteers leaned
over the bed of each of the ten sick
men, conversed with him for a few min
utes and allowed the patient to cough
directly into his face, so that there
should be no doubt of transmission
of diseased tissue. Each volunteer was
thus exposed to ten different cases of
influenza, and was in close proximity
with them for not less than three-quar.
ters of an hour. Yet none of these
volunteers developed any symptoms of
influenza.
The experiments in San Francisco
which were carried out under the di-
rection of Surgeon G. w. Mccoy of the
public health service, and Lieutenant
De Wayne Richey of the United States
navy at the Angel island quarantine
station, were very similar in method
and in result. The men who volunteered
for these experiments had been vac
cinated with Pfeiffer's germs. If, as
European reports would indicate, influ-
enza is caused by an ultra microscopic
germ, such vaccination would be with
out protection to those so vaccinated
None of these men had been exposed
to the influenza epidemic.
In this experiment there was no d.
rect exposure of the patients, but the
additional methods of infection were
tried of injecting the blood of an in
fluenza patient into that Of q volun-
teer, and Of introducing the pure cul-
lures of influenza bacilli into q volun-
teer's. eye. Not one Of these men do
veloped influenza.
Tho results Of this experiment have
left the medical world completely be-
wildered.
The theory which has apparently
been upset by these experiments was
originated by famous French physi-
cian, Nicolle, who claimed to have pro.
duced influenza with q material OBJ.
tanned after filtering 1t through . fine
porcelain filter, showing that . germ
was present which was not only too