The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-12-11
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HASKIN, Director.
Washington, d. c.
THE TRADE IN INfnIUNrTY.

realize that you may now be made
immune from some of the worst dis
eases in the world by. anti-toxins guar
anteed by the United States govern
ment, and that new anti-toxins are
constantly being made and tested?
The government public health lab
oratories are working on serums Tor
scarlet fever, tuberculosis, bubonic
plague. and influenza. An anti-toxin
for anthrax, the cattle disease Wh1ch
men have been contracting from shaw
ing brushes infested with the germs,
has been produced by government
scientists, tho it is not yet known
whether it will prove successful In all
cases
A Japanese scientist working along
similar lines told army doctors re-
Gently that he is developing serum
for yellow fever. Already he has been
able to delay the instant death Wni On
yellow fever usually brings, and he
| expects to be able to prevent deatn
in almost every case when his serum
is perfected.
Most promising of all for immediate
results is the serum to prevent d1ph-
iberia. for this has passed the stages
of experimentation, and is now Delns
put to practical use.
Some time ago a way was found TO
ascertain whether or not an Individual
can take diphtheria, and a means was
developed, similar , to vaccination
against smallpox, 10 protect those who
are liable to it. To produce serum
or vaccine is a long and tedious
process, and to get people to accept II
is still more difficult. New York has
begun to use the test and the pro-
tective injections in its dispensaries
and clinics And now the New York
public schools are planning to see that
every child belonging to the school sys-
tenn is immune from diphtheria.
The process. known as the Schick
test, is a simple one. A few drops OF
a prepared diphtheria toxin are in
jected into the arm of the subject. If
red spot appears in two or three
days the person is not immune from
the disease. If such a spot does not
appear, he is immune. Those who are
liable to diphtheria are then safe
guarded by injections of a mixture of
! diphtheria toxin, or poison, and anti
toxin. This vaccine does not pass out
of the system in a lew months as the
antitoxin given in diphtheria cases
| does. Its protective influence seems to
be permanent. or at least to last
number of years.
Reducing Diphtheria.
This is an important process,
scarcely less SO than the original anti
| toxin discovery, which has cut down
the number of diphtheria deaths from
one out of three cases to one out of
| five when antitoxin is promptly used.
From tests so far made, the doctors
conclude that a large proportion of
| babies are immune from diphtheria.
| When the third or fourth year is
reached, the percentage of immunity
| has dropped to its lowest point. Chill
! dren of that age are especially sus-
ceptible. In older children the num-
Der of immune increases, and the ma
jority OF adults are not susceptible to
ldiphtheria.
1t will still require some time to
ipopulariZe precaution against diph-
iberia, just as it took time to make
vaccination an accepted bit of routine.
! Two hundred years ago almost every
| body had smallpox some time during
his life. Then vaccine was discovered,
! people were convinced of its value,
and now a case or two of smallpox in
a town is rare calamity. The same
things should be true of diphtheria
when the Schiclx test and protective
injections become part of the health
regulations of every community.
/ So much depends on the quality and
content of each dose of a serum or
other biological product that the gov
eminent maintains a strict supervision
over the production of those in con-
slant use. In the case of some prod
uctS-the pneumonia and meningitis
serums and salvarsan, which is a rem
edy for syphilis manufacturer must
send samples out of every lot made to
the public health service at Washing
ton. Here they>are analysed and tried
out on animals. If the animals die,
or if the sample does not contain the
i exact proportion of ingredients as
stated, it is sent back to the firm and
the lot must be destroyed AS this
means serious loss to a firm, these
products are made with great care.
Comparatively little is rejected-about
5 per cent of salvarsan, for example /:
Is per cent of pneumonia serum, and
almost none of anti-toxin.
Anti-toxin and the rest of the bio
| logical products inspected by the gov
i eminent are not examined so regu-
larly as the three just mentioned, but
from time to time samples are tested
out for strength and quality.
Size of the Industry.
Making and inspecting these prod
ucts is an important business in this
country There are around thirty
companies manufacturing them in the
United States, compared with not more
than half dozen in other countries.
These thirty laboratories turn out
100000 worth of biological prod
ucts year. Salvarsan is the, biggest
item, then anti-toxin.
Salvarsan. while included here, is
not properly a biological product at
a matter, and it is injected as a serum,
so the government includes it in its
supervision. Sa1varsan is really a
chemical compound. It's efficiency de-
ponds on the amount of arsenic 1t
contains If there is too much, the
patient will die; if too little he gets
no benefit from the treatment. 1t
was a long time before chemists
achieved this concoction of arsenic
which would be strong enough to cure
J but not kill. To make sure that it is
just right a sample dose out of every
lot made is injected into rats at the
laboratory. Rats are used because
they happen to respond to that par
ticular disease and treatment more
, lige human beings than any other
animal.
Only one biological product-rabies
vaceine-is made by the government
, at the hygienic laboratory and the
public health service would gladly
turn over their work to the state lab