Capsules

P:Several laboratories are working on the problem of finding a Type I strain of virus that will produce immunity, but with less danger of accidentally causing paralysis than the Mahoney strain now used in the Salk vaccine, reported Surgeon General Leonard A. Scheele in the A.M A Jour-ml. Researchers at Philadelphia Children's Hospital meanwhile disclosed first details of their method for making a preparation that is virtually pure polio virus (TIME June 20). They use a zinc salt to precipitate the virus, then a centrifuge to separate it from unwanted kidney tissue and chemicals. They concentrate 15 gallons to a teaspoonful, 99% pure. Among many advantages claimed for the method: ease of manufacture, far greater uniformity and safety, much improved accuracy in testing.

P: After tests on 1,000 people subject to ivy poisoning, the University of Pennsylvania is convinced that a vaccine prepared by Lederle Laboratories is a safe and effective preventive. But since it is not yet known how much vaccine to give or how often, it will not be available until next year.

P:Famed New Orleans Surgeon Alton Ochsner joined the ranks (so far filled mainly with crackpots) of those opposed to fluoridation of public water supplies.

His concern: though it helps to cut down tooth decay in children, it may--if too concentrated--damage adults' teeth. He did not specify at what point the concentration becomes dangerous.

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