Rubbed-In Immunity

A new, smooth way of inoculating against diphtheria, perhaps other diseases, was being studied in the U. S. last week. Professor Ernest Lowenstein, general & experimental pathologist at the University of Vienna, developed the idea. Professor Alexandre Besredka of the Paris Pasteur Institute confirmed it.

The method is to rub a spot on the skin very hard. The rubbing gives the spot a low, nonspecific immunity against disease for almost a day. Before that nonspecific immunity fades, an ointment is rubbed on the spot. The ointment contains diphtheritic toxin whose virulence has been weakened by formaldehyde. The process is repeated a few times at intervals of eight to ten days, the diphtheritic ointment being more potent each time.

The rubbed spot becomes immune to diphtheria. Gradually the immunity spreads throughout the whole body. Such immunity lasts, in experimental animals, more than two months, sufficient to carry through a diphtheria epidemic.

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