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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1956)
Hon Editor's not: la these davs of mass production many people have won dered why it hasn't been possible to torn out enough polio vaccine to take care of everybody risht awav. To get tbe answer, the United Press sent its polio reporter on a tour of the big Eli Lilly plant. Br .MICHAEL O'NEILL United Press Correspondent Indianapolis flJ.R) Why isn't there enough polio vaccine for everyone? Very simple. It is incredibly difficult to make. Only six American drug firms attempted it. Only one, the big Eli Lilly Co. here, has got into mass production. From the collecting of mon keys in far away India to the filling of the small glass vials that are shipped to your doctor or clinic, the manufacture of Salk vaccine is a bewilderingly complicated process. The experts say it is the-most difficult biological product man has ever tried to make. And if you have any doubts, come along on a guided tour of the Lilly plant. Monkeys From India In the crisp early morning air, a plane settles down on the air port just outside of Indianapolis with 1,600 Rhesus monkeys gath ered only four days earlier in India. Heated trucks speed them to steam cleaned cages in Lilly's building 50. One by one, they are taken into a small glass-walled room and anesthetized. A white-robed technician removes the kidneys; another removes the other vital organs to check for possible disease. Monkey Cells Vital The healthy kidneys, one of the raw materials of all Salk vaccine, then are taken into an other germ-free room where girls mince them with ordinary barbers' shears. After this they are placed in Poblitsky flasks, large squarish bottles, along with a nourishing fluid known as medium 199. For six days, mechanized racks rock the flasks to and fro in a large incubating room and the tiny kidney cells mysteriously multiply. These monkey cells are vital. They are the only material in which polio viruses , have been grown successfully in mass pro duction. When the kidney cells have grown for six days, the flasks are "seeded" with live polio virus, types I, II and III in differ ent flasks. For four more days, the flasks are rocked gently and the viruses multiply to a thou sand times their original quan tity. Now the fluid is filtered three times to remove kidney cell frag ments, bacteria, and indeed everything but the polio virus itself. And the first of a seem ingly interminable series of tests is performed, to determine the strength of the virus fluid and to make sure it isn't contaminat ed with monkey viruses, bacter ia, molds, or tuberculosis germs. Inactivation Process Then begins the crucial "inac tivation" process in which the live polio viruses are "killed" by heat and formaldehyde so that the final product cannot infect a child. The virus fluid, now assembled in 100-gallon strainless steel tanks, is pumped through a heater and the formaldehyde injected simultaneously under pressure. The virus and the for maldehyde are kept together for 13 days in a heated room. Each day the tanks are shaken by hand three times and the fluid is completely filtered once to make sure the formaldehyde reaches every virus particle. Every 15 hours for the first 45 hours, samples of the virus fluid are taken and added to live monkey kidney cells. By measuring the damage done to the cells, the Lilly technicians can determine the rate at which the virus is being killed. Then, three days before the end of the inactivation period, and again at the end, more tests are done to confirm that the virus has been fully inactivated. As soon as the fluid is inacti vated, it is moved to Lilly's plant more than a mile away. This is to guard against live viruses in the first plant accidentally get ting , into the inactivated prod uct. In this huge building, the pools of type I, II, and III vaccine are mixed together in huge tanks to form the three-strain vaccine called for in the Salk formula.' More long tests. Final Safety Tests Samples are tested for the ab sence of bacteria. Monkeys are vaccinated and their blood tested to make sure the vaccine is potent enough, that it will prevent polio paralysis. The vac cine's safety is tested again both in monkeys and in monkey kid ney tissue cultures. When it has passed these con siderable hurdles, it moves into the filling rooms. Here, the air is triple-filtered and kept under pressure to keep out germs. Girls in sterile white gowns reach into stainless steel filling hoods to fill the small vials by hand. They watch what they are doing through small windows in the hood. The vials move monotonously out of the room on a conveyor belt and are stored while more tests are run. This time samples of the finished products are in jected into monkeys, which have f taking Saik Vaccine R o ; been made extra sensitive with ! cortisone, to provide one final All in all, it has taken 20 days to make the vaccine and at least 100 days to test it. Lilly's production line is boom guarantee that the vaccine is safe. ' D,AM EVENT "f ""XT f&'(lF ' El jf& OVERSTOCKED! Yes, that's f mr J sXl """1 r"a J . ffig why you can get these nation- I fpv J I 1 m rSN ff S f8 I 1 ; Z alIY advertised "Rings o' For- JmiBt J J VXJ VW I 1 II fzm tune" for just one half their Iff fcj V-A LJ sLJ N 1 -rr Xr Xsifcj Li fi"f jKSr S advertised price. Each brilliant I - C ' f 1M fv4:'' N diamond is set in solid I4K f USE WEISFIELD'S LOW EASY TERMS " --4 2 gold in setting designs of the IrT NO MONEY DOWN ... LOW AS 50 WEEK C ' . ' . latest style. All bridal pairs are s t ri I i ? interlocking for safety. No Interest or Credit Charge I J m ' ' ' ' "Charm o' Fortune" NOW BOTH RINGS Beautifully matched, locking tailored rings in 1 4K solid gold. Special! NO MONEY DOWN . . . 50c WEEK "Star o' Fortune" NOW BOTH RINGS 75 Beautiful Solitaire with Two Side Stones ... 3 diamond band. NO MONEY DOWN . . . YEAF H PAY "Knight o' Fortune" $4 ftH NOW V2 PRICE I UU 3 Diamonds in Massive Mounting of brushed I4K gold. NO MONEY DOWN . . . 2.00 WEEK OPEN DAILY: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. I ij i jn,w-. . pwif.iMiw u i iijiiiimiiPiiiwi.iiiL i i i UiiiiiniiJiutmi mum uw ram m ing. This one firm alone has pro duced nearly 70 per cent of all the vaccine released so far. It plans to turn out a record 60,- ' r r 'f ' oetrrc I . . .. a tni t r- n .mm mm i "flair n fortune "S.iu nr t iumc u w"' '"- " m mm "Flair o' Fortune" NOW BOTH RINGS Solitaire in engraved setting with match ing I4K gold band. NO MONEY DOWN . . . 75c WEEK "Maid o' Fortune" NOW BOTH RINGS 100 Six Glorious diamonds in a gorgeous Ring o' Fortune Ensemble. NO MONEY DOWN . . . YEAR TO PAY "Prince o' Fortune' NOW Vj PRICE 189 50 3 large full cut diamonds in New Style brushed gold setting. NO MONEY DOWN . . . YEAR TO PAY 122 EAST MAIN eason for 000,000 shots in the first six months of 1956. One reason for this is that Lil ly has put its vaccine production MANY, MANY OTHER SIMILAR DIAMOND VALUES "Bride o' Fortune" NOW BOTH RINGS 150 1 2 brilliant ' diamonds in locking I4K bridal pair. Modern Settings. NO MONEY DOWN . . . YEAR TO PAY No IF YOU CANNOT SHOP IN PERSON. ..PHONE OR O R D E R B Y M A I L STREET MEDFORD, OREGON Thursday, April 3, 1958 Lack of Sufficient Su on a seven-day, nine-hour-a-day basis and has transferred key technicians and scientists from other departments. Frank E. 'Flame o' Fortune" NOW BOTH RINGS Betrothal Solitaire with' Two Side Dia monds 3 Diamond Band. NO MONEY DOWN . . . 1.00 WEEK "Princess o' Fortune" $ '200 NOW BOTH RINGS 8 large scinti'ating diamonds in Rings ' Fortune I4K pair. NO MONEY DOWN ... YEAR TO PAY Interest or Credit w w 1 1 D I B I I MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE FIVE Kamplain, the man in immediate charge of production, put it this way: "Our workers have been mak 'Blaze o' Fortune NOW BOTH RINGS 7 blazing diamonds in this interlocking I4K Bridal Pair. NO MONEY DOWN ... YEAR TO PAT "Goddess o' Fortune' '375 NOW BOTH RINGS 8 extra large brilliant diamonds in thrilling Rings o' Fortune Pair. NO MONEY 00WN . . . YEAR TO PAY Charges WEISFIELD'S JEWELERS Pleas send me the "Rings O' Fortune" named: ( ) at $ I am enclosing $ and will send $ per week until the entire amount plvs Federal tax is paid. Name Phone Address..... ...How Long City Zone... State Where Employed.. How Long Credit Reference. Firm Nam E3 Ea es ea ing a lot of sacrifices. When we were asked to boost production we put it squarely up to them and they responded 100 per cent. S E i a i
