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Show Against Flu Goes On We still don't have an effective vaccine , but here is an encouraging First step in making vaccine is live virus into eggs. report of progress being made. injecting A changeable virus about one of an inch long which causes influenza has baffled medical science for nearly 25 years. Although scientists identified the virus in the early 1930s and have been tracing three main virus types and their countless variations ever since, they have not been able to make an effective vaccine. We have an influenza vaccine now, but doctors do not recommend it without reservation. The vaccine protects against the most common types of influenza virus, but it is useless against all other types and variations. And the baffling aspect of influenza is that the virus strain causing the disease seems to change from year to year. For instance, in the early 1940s a vaccine was made using three strains from the two virus types then known. A group of Army training program students were inoculated, and a 70 percent reduction in influenza cases resulted. Again in 1945 the vaccine was used with a corresponding drop in the influenza rate. But in 1947 when use of the vaccine was extended throughout the Army, vaccinated and unvaccinated troops alike were struck by influenza. A new virus strain had developed and the vaccine offered no protection at all against it Since then, the World Health Organization has coordinated a continuous study of influenza in 60 laboratories throughout the world. Any new four-million- th strains of the virus are reported immediately to the study centers in New, York and London. The program originally was set up to spot a new virus type or strain, then develop a vaccine for manufacture before the disease spread to other areas. The technical difficulties encountered made that plan impractical, but the study continues, in the hope of developing a vaccine offering true protection against influenza. Through this network of cooperating laboratories, scientists have found that the particular virus strain causing an influenza outbreak in a given year is remarkably the same all over the world. But when the next outbreak comes along a year or two later, the virus strain usually is a new one. jVTo matter which strain causes it, influenza usually attacks more persons in the age group, but causes the most deaths among the aged. The high fatality rate in older people may be due to poor heart and lung conditions, doctors theorize. In spite of this, doctors say the mortality rate from influenza has been steadily dropping since the last worldwide epidemic of 1918-1- 9, when an . estimated 20 million died a half million in the United States alone. Scientists shake their heads and admit they dont know why the death rate has dropped. Nor do they think this means the end of epidemics. Dr. Influenza has struck across the world many times This 12 Family Weekly. Jan. 20, 1057 in history. graph shows years of the worst epidemics. Dorland Davis of the National Institutes of Health says, There is always the threat of the recurrence of a pandemic (world-wiepidemic) similar to that of 1918 and 1919. Modem sulfa drugs and antibiotics offer a powerful weapon against the of influenza, such as complications pneumonia; and many doctors believe the complications are the really deadly aspect of influenza. But the new drugs dont attack influenza itself, and Dr. Davis warns, The fact that influenza remains a significant cause of death in the era of antibiotics should make us cautious in our hopes they would be of great value in the event of a severe de epidemic. The U.S. Public Health Services booklet on the control of communicable diseases lists no specific remedy for influenza. Instead, the Service recommends that the flu patient go to bed and stay there until a doctor approves returning to work. Main purpose of this, the Service says, is to guard against serious complications. T ust what is influenza? It is not grippe, the common cold, intestinal flu, Summer flu, or the other respiratory infections which have some of the same symptoms as influenza. The main peculiarity of influenza seems to be its epidemic nature a high attack rate occurring over the space of a few weeks in a given locality. Influenza ordinarily attacks in the Winter, although Spring and Fall outbreaks are not uncommon. It takes about a day or two between infection and the appearance of influenzas symptoms: a tired feeling, achiness, sometimes a chill, headaches, nausea, and a fever which may hit 101 to 104. The disease doesnt last long; most victims are over it in five days or less unless complications set in. Should you be inoculated with the present vaccine? Your doctor, of course, should advise you because he knows your physical condition and can make the best recommendation in your particular case. However, it is important to be vaccinated before any outbreak of influenza. If vaccination is attempted after an individual has been infected by influenza virus, the symptoms will be aggravated, not lessened. The vaccines period of immunity varies, depending on the individuals resistance to infection, but vaccination oftener than once a year does not appear necessary. When considering vaccination, here are a few things to remember: Flu is most dangerous for the very young and the aged. In Great Britain, an influenza outbreak in 1951 decimated the aged population. At the peak of the outbreak in Liverpool, deaths during one week were higher than in 1918. In January, 1955, another outbreak |
