Studies on Epidemic Influenza: Comprising Clinical and Laboratory InvestigationsUniversity of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine
History
Studies on Epidemic Influenza: Comprising Clinical and Laboratory Investigations
University of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine
Influenza; Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919
McCoy (15) outlined the requirements necessary for an ideal vaccine
experiment as follows: 1. The community should be as large as possible,
and should number at least 10,000 persons. 2. The conditions under which
they live should be as nearly equal as possible. 3. The turnover, or
rather the change in population, should be as small as possible. 4. The
social service should be efficient and reliable, so that it can be
definitely ascertained when anyone becomes sick and what the disease is
from which he is suffering. 5. Fifty per cent. should be vaccinated
before the epidemic arrives, and the other 50 per cent. should be held
as controls.
No examples were found which came up to the above requirements, but
there were some instances in which vaccination was completed before the
epidemic appeared, and some in which we were able to get a week-by-week
comparison between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups. Most of the data
which has been reported shows that vaccination was begun about the last
of the second or the first of the third week of the epidemic, and in
some instances not until after the peak was passed. Add to this the fact
that the vaccine was given in from three to four doses, at from three to
seven day intervals—a course which required in the neighborhood of two
weeks for completion—and it is obvious that the full protective powers
of the vaccine were not acquired by the individual until the worst of
the epidemic was over and the number of cases were rapidly subsiding.
In order to get the best understanding from these experiments, the data
will be presented in three series: I. Those instances in which
vaccination was completed before the epidemic appeared. II. Those
instances in which it is possible to compare the relative occurrence of
influenza in both the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups after
vaccination was completed. III. Those instances in which vaccination was
begun after the epidemic appeared and in which comparisons of total
figures only are available.
_Series I. Those Instances in Which Vaccination Was Completed Before the
Epidemic Appeared_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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