Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-12-18
The Trade in Immunity
py Frederic J. Haskin

tho world by anti-toxi ns guaranteed by
the United States government, and thnt
new anti-toxins are constantly being made
and tested?
Tho government public health laho-
ratorics are working on scrlims for scarict
fever, tuberculosis, bubonic plague, and
influenza. An antitoxin for. anthrax,
the cattle dseasc which mon have been
contracting from shaving brushes infested
with the germs, hns been produced by
government scientists, though IT Ia nct
yet known whether IL wit provo SUCCESSFUL
in all cases.
A Japanese scientist working along
similar lines told Army doctors recently
TINT he is developing serum Tor yellow
fever. Already nc had been able IN delay
the instant death which yellow fever
usually brings. md he expects To he able
10 prevent death in almost every case
when his serum If perfected.
Most promising of all for Immediate
results is the serum 10 prevent dphtherini
for this has passed the stages OF expert
mentation, and is now belnp put to
practical use.
Somo time ago, way was found 70
ascertain whether or not an individtth
can take diphtheria, and means was
developed, similar tn vaccination against
smallpox, 90 protect those who are 'iapie
TO IL. To produce serum or vaccine IL n
long and tedious process, and 10 got peo-
ple 20 accept il is still more difficult
New York has begun Tn use the test and
the protective injections in its dispen-
saries and clinics And now the New
York pubic schools nre planning to ace
that every child belonging to the school
system ia immune from dip theria.
The process, known rs the Sohiok test
| ia n simnle one. A few dropa nf prepared
| diphthcria toxin are injected into the arm
| Of tho subject II rcd spot appears IN two
or three days the person ia not immune
| from the disease II such spot docs not
/ sppoar. me ia immune, Those who arc IT.
| ab,e to diphtheria are then safegusrded by
| injections of mixture Of diphtheria
| toxin. or poison, and anti-to,in. lhis
vaccine does not pass out Of the systom IN
a few months as the anti-toxsn given IN
! diphtheria cases does I,s protective in
| H,lence seems to be permanent, OF At
least 10 last n number of years,
REDUCING DIrHrHEMa.
| This ,s an important process, scarcely
Iess 80 than the original antitosln di scovery
| which has cut down tho number OF diph-
| liberia deatha from ono out Of three oaEes
20 one out Of Eve when ant-toxin ~
promptly used.
From teats no far made, the doctors
conclude that large proportion oi babies
are immune from diphther1a. when the
third or fourth year ia reached, the per
oenteUe ~ immunity has dropped to ita
| lowest point. Children OF that age are
especially susceptible. In older children
tho number Of immune increases, and IN"
majority OF adults are not susceptible 70
diphtheria
II will still require some time 70 popu-
larire precaution against diphthsfia'
INST ss ID took time To make vaccination
an accented bit az routine. Two hundred
yesra ago almost everybody had srnall-
pox sorne. time during his life Then vac
cine was discovered people wern con-
vinvced of la value, and now casn or two
OF smallpox in town IL rare calamity
The same thing should TOO true OF diph-
liberia when the Schick test and protective
injection become part OF tho health reg'i-
lations Of every community.
So much depends on the quality and
content Of each dose Of o ser1im or other
biological product that the government
maintains strict supervision over tne
production OF those III constant use In
the case Of some products the pneu-
monia and meningitis seTIuna and ssei-
varsan. which is n remedy for syphilis
a manufacturer must send samples out
of every lot made 20 tho Public Health
Service az Washington. iIerr they ar'
analyzed and tired out on animals. II
the animals die, or II tho sample does not
contain the exact proportion 81 lngredi
entE a. stated, u ~ sent back u the hflr
and the lot must bc destroyed. As TIM
means serious loss TO hrIn. theet
products arc made with great care. Com
narRtlyelv little Is rejected-about
per cent Of salvarsan, Tor example, Il
per cent Of pneumonia serum, and almos
none Of auti-toxln.
Anti-tox,n and the rest Of the blologica
products inspected by the government
are not examined so regularly AS the thre'
lust mentioned. but from tlmo TO TINS
samples are tested out for strength ant
quality
SIZE or THE INDUS TRY.
Making and inspecting these product
is an important business In thus oountr,
There are around 80 companies manu-
, featuring them in the United States
compared with not more than half {
dozenin other countries. These 30laborato
ries turn out 50. .O0O. 600 worth Of biological
products a year Salvarssn Is the bigges'
Z &t1AAlg taith a-SbNAA
, Salvarsan. while i.cluded here, is no
properly a biological product at all
but It's manufacture is so delicate matter
, and il is injected rs a serum, so the gov
ernment includes it In its supervision
Salvarsan really chemical compound
It's efficiency depends on the amount O
arsenic il contains II there Is too much
the patient will die; If too little he got'
no benefit from the treatment. IL was ;
long time before chemists achieved thi'
concoction of arsenic which would bt
strong enough 10 cure but not kill. TC
make sure that it is just right sampl,
dose out of every lot made is injected into
rats at the laboratory. Rats are used be
cause they happen TO respond TO that par
ticuar disease and treatment more like
human beings than any other animal.
only one biological product-rabiet
vaccine-is made by the government a.
the hygienic laboratory, and the Public
Health Service would gladly turn over
this work 10 the state laboratories except
for the faex that scarcely enough is called
for 10 make it worth while for mosi
states 10 bother with it, The Govern
ment sends out 2, 900 treatments of rable;
vaccine year, all over the country.
The vaccine is made from the spinal
cord Of rabbit that has been Inieotec
with rabies The cord is dried to q certain
state, and then preserved in giycerin'
TO keep it from drying further. Only
about one-quarter OF an inch ls used for 6
| d0Sp b,,t 81 doeae have IN ba Injected III