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attempts have been made to prevent its occurrence by inoculation
treatment, but in 'this country the efficacy of anti-whooping cough
vaccination so far is unproved. On the face of it, however, the
advances made in the protection against other infections, for
example, diphtheria especially, must stimulate the research worker
to put whooping cough prevention also on sound foundation and in
America promising results are being reported. The advances
made are worthy of test and 'the Medical Research Council
approached the Council asking parents to consider taking part in
their endeavour to make still another important addition to
preventive medicine. Carefully controlled treatment and observation
is now being given 'to a number of children in Wembley,
Tottenham and Manchester Edmonton and Leeds having lately
been added). The response of parents, as shown by their
interest, has been most gratifying. The following paragraphs
are contributed by Dr. W. C. Cockburn, Medical Research Council.
Trials of an American whooping cough vaccine which has
given promising results in the U.S.A. are being carried out in
this country in Wembley, Tottenham, Edmonton and Manchester
by the Medical Research Council in conjunction with the various
Health Departments concerned.
The plan is to inoculate a large number of children and thereafter
follow .their progress by monthly visits over a period of
two years to determine how many (if any) of the inoculated
children develop whooping cough. In order, however, that a
true standard of comparison of the effect of the inoculation can
be obtained, some of the children are being given an anti-catarrh
vaccine which cannot act as a preventive against whooping cough,
but which supplies a control group for statistical comparison.
The key to 'the nature of the vaccines is kept by the Medical
Research Council and each product is so labelled that no-one
engaged in the day to day work of the trial can know which
injection any particular child has received until the end of the
two years. The " key" will then be unsealed and the results
analysed. If, as we confidently hope, 'there are far fewer cases
of whooping cough in .the group who have had the whooping
cough vaccine than in the group who have had the anti-catarrhal
vaccine, then we can be quite certain that the whooping cough
vaccine is really effective, and Health Authorities will be in a
position to advise its adoption on a large scale.
During the Autumn of 1946, volunteers were asked for in the
Wembley area, and, thanks largely to the special interest of the
Health Visitors and the enthusiasm of parents, 328 children have
been enrolled. They have now been inoculated, and a specially
appointed Health Visitor visits each child monthly. If she
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