IMMUNITY FROM INFLUENZA?

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22004, 30 January 1937, Page 14

IMMUNITY FROM INFLUENZA?

PROGRESS OF SEARCH FOR VACCINE

BRITISH FIGHTING FORCES ESCAPE EPIDEMIC

Ore on otnt omt correspondent.)

LONDON, January 2,

Inoculation against influenza may soon be practicable. Remarkable progress has recently been made in the search for a suitable vaccine. Work on the subject, which is being conducted at the Hampstead laboratories of the National Institute for Medical Research, is understood to be approaching the final stages.

For some time the scientists have been' hindered by the difficulty of obtaining sufficient fresh virus. Frdm the investigators’ point of view the present epidemic has come at an opportune moment. Samples of influenza virus are being obtained from patients at a London hospital, and are proving invaluable for experiments. The work is being conducted by Sir Patrick Laidlaw, working with Dr. C. H. Andrewes and Dr. Wilson Smith. They are the three investigators who first isolated a filterable virus of influenza three years ago. ~ . The present influenza epidemic, though still responsible for hundreds of absentees from-shops, offices and factories, shows signs of waning in London. The latest figures issued by the London County Council show that on Saturday there were 1044 influenza patients in the general hospitals, compared with 199 the previous Saturday. A striking feature of the epidemic is the comparative immunity of the fighting forces. The total number of men under treatment in the army, apart from the Scottish and Northern Commands, is only 239, according to the latest figures. The Admiralty reports that influenza in the navy is no more than normal for the time of the year, while the Royal air force has few men ill. This is attributed to the open-air life of sailors, soldiers and airmen, and also to the immediate precautions which ' were taken to guard against infection. At Wellington Barracks a “gargle parade” is being held daily, and the men have been warned to avoid likely sources of infection. Precautions in the Royal air force take the form of spacing the beds in the barracks, and allowing men to go direct to the dining-room from outside in their greatcoats. One effect of the epidemic has been to create a shortage of nurses in London.