Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-09-19
Cold Vaccine Developed
BY Baltimore Scientist

ton OF the meulcai Worlu-aS
well as sneezers and sniffcrs
everywhere-with disclosure he
has developed an effective vac
cine for the common cold.
The twofold discovery claimed
by DR.. winston H. Price of the
Hopkins School of Hygiene and
Public Health is that:
/. He has succeeded in isc-
lating the first true" virus Of
( the common cold--one re-
sponsible for 80 per cent Of the
cases he has studied over q
two-year period.
2. He has developed a vac
cine which. in controlled tests
on more than 400 persons, pre-
vented colds caused by the
"JH virus" in 80 per cent of the
! cases.
The possibility Of mass pro-
ducing the vaccine is very good,
/ DR.. Price indicated. although
he begged OF answering any
questions about commercial
production.
Method Used Elsewhere
But the scientist said the JH
virus has been sent to other
laboratories and they have been
able to cultivate it using the
methods developed here.
Immunity is produced from
two shots of the vaccine, the
second following the first by
four weeks, DR.. Price said. He
could not say how long the
immunity would last.
DR.. Price said the vaccine
was made from killed JH virus
and produced no symptoms.
{ discomfort or side effects what
soever in persons who received
it.
Reaction Of the medical
world was cautious. Most re-
searchers and virus experts de-
clined comment at present.
In Chicago, a spokesman for
the American Medical Associa-
ton said other vaccineS devel-
oped in recent years haven't
proved too successful because
colds are caused by so many
different types Of virus"
DR.. Clayton G. Loosi. member
of the Common Cold Founda-
ton in Chicago. said the vac
cine against the JH strain of
virus may prove significant if
further laboratory tests prove
it cannot be reproduced easily"
Limitations Stressed
Because common colds are
caused by an unknown number
of viruSes, DR.. Price empha-
sized that his vaccine cannot
be expected to be effective
against all of them.
But his tests on humans have
proved it 80 per cent effective
against colds caused by III
virus which he said is a major
source of colds and the first
true cold virus isolated. He
said the virus is not related
to the group of apo or adeno-
virus for which there are sew
eral workable vaccines.
The first report of the vac
cine came last night in a Balti-
more Sun copyright story and
was later confirmed by DR..
Price.
Eight large groups of volun-
teers from boys training
schools took part in the expert
ments conducted by DR.. Price.
|: The vaccine was tested in an
epidemic which occurred nor
mally.
In one group of 100 boys, so
. were injected with the vaccine.
25 we're given a saline solution
which produces no effects and
! 25 were given a preparation
from killed monkey kidney It's
! sue-the medium in which the
virus was grown.
. An outbreak of the colds
from the JH virus occurred five
+. weeks later, DR.. Price said, and
IL boys out Of the IS who re-
ceived the saline solution
caught colds. Twelve of the 25
{ who got the monkey tissue
preparation also caught colds.
But only three of the so who
received the Price vaccine de-
veloped cold symptoms.
Monkey Tissue Used
After considerable expert
mentation monkey kidney It's
sue was selected as the pre-
! ferred medium on which to
/. grow the virus. The same It's
+: sue is used for Salk vaccine
production.
DR.. Price already has made
notable accomplishments in the
field of ecology-the division of
biology which treats the rela-
tons between organisms and
their environment.
A 1912 graduate of the Uni
versity Of Pennsylvania, he re-
ceived his Pho. from Prince
ton in 1949.
He spent six years at the
Rockefeller Institute for Medi-
cal Research. working up from
investigator to associate pro-
fessor before joining the Hop
kins faculty seven years ago.
In 1854 he received the The
Z obold Smith Award given an
( nually to the scientist who
shows unusual ability for ORR
/ ginal research in the field Of
I medical science.
3 Last spring he reported the