Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1963-05-23

IotiOii. IL was iIO oiildll pan
and it became bigger. An Ameri-
can manufacturer donated the
vaccine. Jet guns used for vac.
cinations and jeeps to travel
from village to village were
furnished by the u. S. State
Departments Agency for Inter
national Development.
On the spot the NH team
began training Voltan teams for
vaccination work. Altogether,
eight three-member teams were
turned out qualified to work In
the measles eradication pro.
gram.
And the word went out.
Health officers descending on
African villages are not always
well.received. AS a matter of
fact, many are chased out. But
something happened in connec.
ton with measles eradication.
Where m essengers couldn't
carry the word, tom.toms beat
out the message Of hope from
village to village, sounded it
through the jungles. When the
vaccination points were set up,
the people came, bringing the
children.
The NH team had expected
about half million vaccina.
tons would be made. When the
final count was in, the figure
was well over 100000. Six
months; three who knew how,
and "a who learned; 100000
vaccinations.
The Upper Volta story is only
a small part of the vast kaleido-
scope of work performed by the
NH Division of Biologics Stan
dards. Its primary function is
administration of the provisions
of the Public Health Service
Act that pertain to safety, pur-
ity, and potency of biological
products for the prevention of
disease.
These include the vaccines,
antitoxins, therapeutic serums,
as well as human blood and its
derivatives. Such products, for
the most part, are developed
from pathogenic or potentially
pathogenic microorganisms.
Their preparation requires care
full control in order to minimize
safety hazards which might oc.
cur in the course of processing,
and to ensure final products of
satisfactory potency. The Divi.
sion's okay is necessary before
a license can be issued to a
manufacturer.
Research programs of the
Divisions six laboratories (Con.
troll Activities, Bacterial Pro.
ducts, Biophysics and Biochem.
istry, Blood and Blood Products,
Viral Immunology, and Virol.
ogy and Rickettsiology) include
a diversity of projects, some of
which have been dealt with in
an earlier story on the Division.
Biologics Standards occupies
a building to the rear of the
towering History Clinical Cen.
ter on NH grounds and to the
left of the National Institute of
Dental Research. Its total per.
sonnet numbers 209. OF these,
81 are in professional and scien.
tific classifications; 129 are
technicians. Twenty-eight are in.
cluded in administrative and
clerical groups.
In the lobby of the Divisions
building Is plaque bearing these
words of Louis Pasteur
Science and peace will triumph
over ignorance and war; nations
will unite, not to destroy but to
build, and the future will be.
long to those who will have
long to those who will have done
most for suffering humanity"
Biologics Standards is headed
by DR.. Roderick Murray, 81,
born in New Zealand, who be.
gan his distinguished career in
clinical medicine as biochemist
with the South Africa Institute
for Medical Research at Johan.
nesburg. He joined the Public
Health Service in 1947. He be.
came director of the Division
when it was set up in 1856. He
and his family live at STA
Springfield Drive, Springfield,
Md