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
Influenza vaccines for prophylaxis were also prepared in great
quantities by the New York City Board of Health, and were made under the
direction of W. H. Parke. No reports on the value of their vaccines have
as yet appeared, and the writer has been unsuccessful in obtaining any
data on the matter. The Parke vaccine was made in the following way: A
large number of strains of Pfeiffer bacilli were isolated from cases of
influenza during the epidemic. These were grown on a veal infusion agar
containing 1 per cent. peptone, 0.5 per cent. of sodium chloride, 5 per
cent. chemically pure glycerin, and the reaction of which was made
neutral to phenolthalein in the cold. The agar was melted, and from 3
per cent. to 5 per cent. of citrated horse blood was added to it at a
temperature above 95° C. The media was then slanted and cooled in 6 × 1
inch test tubes. Most of the vaccines contained about 17 different
strains of Pfeiffer bacilli. The strains were inoculated separately on a
series of slants, and at the end of 24 hours the cultures were washed
off with sterile water and the washings from each series were placed in
a separate bottle. Smears were then made to determine whether or not
gram positive organisms were present, and as soon as each bottle was
found to be free from contamination the contents were pipetted off into
a 1,000 c.c. flask, and the dilution with sterile salt solution
containing 0.25 per cent. phenol made. All of the strains were mixed
together in the large flask. A sample was then removed for
standardization by Wright’s method, and the flask was submerged for one
hour in water at 53° C. Transplants for sterility were made and watched
for 48 hours. The vaccine was then diluted so that each cubic centimeter
contained 1,000,000,000 Pfeiffer bacilli. Prophylactic vaccination was
carried out by giving ½ c.c., 1 c.c. and 1½ c.c. doses at seven-day
intervals.
_Author’s Vaccine_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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