Scarlet Fever Streptococcus Toxin for Dick Test, 5 Tests
date: label: date made
content: ca 1947
name: label: maker
content: Sharp and Dohme
notes: label: Description
content: The Dick test is a skin test once used to determine an individual’s susceptibility to scarlet fever. Scarlet fever streptococcus toxin was injected under the skin and the site monitored for any reaction. Individuals lacking immunity developed a red rash in the area. The test was named for American physicians George F. Dick (1881 – 1967) and Gladys Henry Dick (1881 – 1963), who isolated the bacteria, Streptococcus pyogenes, that causes scarlet fever in 1923 and developed the test the following year. The test helped public health officials identify populations most at risk for the disease.
label: Description
content: This object was part of an exhibit on the manufacture and use of biological vaccines for the treatment of smallpox, respiratory infections, influenza, measles, and scarlet fever. Under the direction of the Smithsonian’s curator of medicine, the pharmaceutical company, Sharp & Dohme, designed and produced the exhibit which was installed at the Smithsonian in September 1947. The company became a major U.S. producer of biological products including many vaccines, serums, and antitoxins, after acquiring H. K. Mulford & Company in 1929. The Mulford Company was a pioneer in the commercial development of biologicals in the United States beginning with the production of a diphtheria antitoxin in the mid-1890s.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
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content: Health & Medicine
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content: The Antibody Initiative
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content: Antibody Initiative: Infectious Disease, Allergy, and Immunotherapy Collections
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Sharp & Dohme, Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.177206.05
label: catalog number
content: 177206.05
label: accession number
content: 177206
objectType: label: Object Name
content: diagnostic, streptococcus
label: Object Name
content: biological
label: Other Terms
content: Scarlet Fever Streptococcus, for Dick Test; Diagnostic Medicine; Toxins; Biologicals; Drugs
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 3/8 in x 1/2 in; 6.0325 cm x 1.27 cm