Milford chronicle., 1954-03-05
Conquest Of Polio Near
The Production Of q New Polio Vaccine
Brings q Vast Medical Mystery
Hunt - Us climux

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New York, February II: While |
the nation is getting ready for !
mass inOculatiOns against polio, !
using a vaccine developed in 1853, /
even more potent vaccines have
been developed which are now be-
ing laboratory tested, LIFE Maga-
zine says in a major text feature
tracing developments in what it
calls zone of the great medical de-
tective stories of all time"
The article says that the virus
Research Laboratory of the Uni
versity of Pittsburgh, headed by
DR.. Jonas Salk, youthful discover
er of the vaccine to be used in the
mass experiment involving 100000
to 100000 children this spring,
has already discovered one such
promising vaccine. Among others
who are also experimenting to-
wards similar ends, LIFE says,
are Drs. Milzer and LevinsOn of
Michael Reese Hospital, and their
associate, DR.. Shaughnessy, of the
Illinois Department of Health, who
have already found a way to in
aCtivate their polio virus by means
of ultraviolet radiation.
These new vaccines will not be
used in the current mass tests be-
cause they all demand further test
ing. Also, LIFE quotes DR.. Hart
Van Ripper, medical director of the
National Polio Foundation as say
ing: There comes a time in any
field of medical development where
you have to say, o. K, freeze it.
This thing we have is good, so
let's standardize on it, and while
we're using it, go ahead and work
on improving it. That way we be-
gin to save some lives.
Puzzle Pieces Suddenly Fit
The LIFE article by Robert
Coughlan says that a few years
ago polio researchers were as far
away from the basic answers in
their field as cancer researchers
are today in theirs. 1t was not un-
til 1949 that an amazing series Oi
discoveries occurred. eliminating
in the forthcoming mass inocula-
tiOn tests. In only four years ques-
tiOns which had long baffled re-
searcheTs found logical answers.
Today, according to LIFE, scien
lists know that the digestive trac
is the place where, in most cases
the polio virus first takes hold ant
multiplies. The virus gets into TIL
digestive system, usually through
the mouth, in a variety of ways
Medical scientists now also know
the reason why the amount o
paralytic polio increases wit
civilization and sanitation. LIFl
says. "Under crowded, unsanitar
conditions babies are exposed {
it frequently, perhaps in very smal
doses or very mild forms, and s
in the earliest years acquire anti
bodies which protect them the res
of their lives. Conversely, hygieni
conditions delay exposure and ma
prevent it for years-and the Olde
one gets, the harder the diseas
tends to hit"
Many Share In Victory
The LIFE article says that ther
are literally thousands Of scieT
lists who must share the laurel
in the dramatic pursuit Of poll
cure. But certain individuals an
discoveries stand out in the effort
at conquest.
The fractiOning Of blood into il
component parts, including OF
called gamma globuIin, in 194
by the late DR.. e. ]. COhn and h
associates at the Harvard Medic
School This presented for the FIR
time the possibility of supplyiT
large and potent antibOdies to Il
polio virus within the blood streaT
Gamma GlObulin field tests in tuI
later showed that the polio ant
bodies in the blood stream ga
protection to children not yet il
fected with the disease.
The 1949 discovery, which LII
calls undoubtedly the most II
pOrtant in the whole history Of p
lio research" that polio vir
could be grown in non-neural Il
sues IN test tubes by DR.. JOl
Enders and his associates, Dl
Thomas Weller and FredeFi
Robbins Of Harvard and the Ch
dren's Hospital. Boston. This d
Velopment removed the peril
eneephalomyelitis, an allergic !
action to vaccines made frC
nerve tissue. 1t also provided
cheap and ample supply Of vir
and furnished It, moreover in rel
lively pure form. clearing the "
for the potential manufacture
a safe vaccine in quantity.
The huge 1851 Polio Foundati
investigation, enlisting virus Il
0ratories at four Universiti
which proved the existence
three definite families Of pO
virus. From this program 1t &
lowed that any vaccine must cc
tain strains cf all three types.