Milford chronicle., 1957-10-25
THE COMMON COLD


Johns Hopkins University researcher,
DR.. Winston H. Price, of the division Of med
ical Geology has reported that he has devel-
oped vaccine against virus which he be-
IeveS to be the cause of many cases of the
common cold"
From the laboratory, however, came no
claims for a cure-all, no suggestion of a quick
and easy panacea. DR.. Price modestly calls
his vaccine merely an opening wedge" but
his discovery may prove to be one of the
most important developments of our time in
medican history and in public health.
The fight against the common cold has
been one of the most battling, complicated
and exaSperating that medical scientists have
faced. 1t has been possible-as the Chinese
discovered some 5000 years ago-to find
agents that are often effective in relieving
symtomatic distress, but the problem of find
ing "cure" has caused the scientists to probe
much deeper. They had to find an original
cause so as to know how to combat and
eradicate it,
The virus on which DR.. Price has been
working was actually isolated four years
ago. 1t is said that this virus is only one of
the cauSatlVe agents that are suspected, since
the identified virus is called responsible in
only 30 per cent of the cases studied.
AS a matter of fact, during recent year,
the term common cold" has become sort
of catch-all in which are Jumped mild respir-
atory infections now caused by known agents.
Some such infections are inhuenzas, mild
pneumOniaS, some caused by StreptOcoccal
bacteria, the so-called t'APC'' virus diseases
and other grippe-like diseases.
DR.. Price has reported that the partic-
ular JH virus (called JH for Johns Hopkins)
is the first true commOn-cold agent to be iso-
lated and that tests on a number of volun-
teers have established that the vaccine he has
developed is effective against JH virus.
This discovery and development does not
mean that it will be possible Immediately to
go to the corner drug store, buy little box
of tablets and be immune to the common
cold for the rest of your life. 1t does mean
that new techniques are being developed with
which great common enemy can be attack
ed.
Since, in our own lifetime, we have seen
the menace of some of the worlds most ter
rible killers, such as smallpox, typhoid fever,
tuberculosis and other diseases, fade into
relative obscurity, this development may we'll
be the turning point in the war on the cold.
NSS@%S
FINANCIALLY INCLUDED MISSILE
Not long before Congress adjourned, the
Senate passed a bill authorizing the Ten
nessee Valley Authority to issue $3.50 mil
lion in revenue bonds for the purpose of
financing future expansion. The bill was
not acted on in the House. 1t will be consid-
convenes in January-and, meanwhile, the
nation at large as we'll as the lawmakers
should soberly weigh its implications.
First of all, the revenue bond idea would
virtually free IVA of all Congressional con-
troll. In the words of Senator Goldwater,
.. the pending bill allows IVA to go mer-
rily along its way building what it wants to,
where it wants to, expanding its territory,
increasing the national debt, while thumbng
its nose at the Congress and executive de-
partments. 1t would have freedom of ac-
tion never before granted to any Federal
agency" He added that the $3.50 million
limitation written into the bill has little
meaning-for "Any limitation which Con-
gress can put on, it can take off"
The U. S. Chamber of Commerce points
out that, under the principle here involved,
IVA would become type of financially un-
guided missile" that could destroy not only
taXpaying power companies but other pri-
vate nterprises-insurance, coal, fertilizer,
natural gas. 1t would give IVA almost limit
less power to do whatever it wanted-includ-
ing forcing down the price of coal used in
electric generation, and supplanting natural
gas in homes and industries with taX-SubSid-
lied, taX-free electricity.
The New York Journal of Commerce ac-
curately describes the bond plan as Sub
terfuge" Congress would simply be avoiding
its plain responsibility. That responsibility
is to examine and evaue IVA and all re
quests for money-and then approve or dis
approve them, on their merits. And it should
be added, tax its property and earnings the
same as that of other business.
There is talk of amending the bill and
imposing restrictions. But Senator Gold
water declares that it is too defective even
to start amending" 1t would open the door
to monolithic, monopolistic state socialism
on an undreamed-of scale.