No evidence was submitted which warrants the preceding claims nor is the Council aware of any reliable testimony to indicate that the administration of the mixture here discussed is warranted or desirable. On the recommendation of the Committee on Serums and Vaccines the Council voted that “Catarrhal Vaccine Combined-Lilly” and “Influenza Mixed Vaccine-Lilly” be not included in New and Non­official Remedies because satisfactory evidence of their value is wanting.

Influenza Serobacterin Mixed-Mulford

Because of inquiry received, the Council took up the consideration of “Influenza Serobacterin Mixed-Mulford,” and requested the Mulford Company to present evidence to establish the admissibility of the preparation to New and Non­official Remedies. The Mulford Company sent specimens of the serobacterin in question, an advertising circular and a letter by the director of its Biologic Laboratories.

According to the label on the package, the preparation is made from the following organisms: Bacillus influenzae, Staphylo­coccus aureus, Staphylo­coccus albus, Strepto­coccus, Pneumo­coccus and Micro­coccus catarrhalis (group). This mixture is recommended by the manufacturer:

“For the prophylaxis and Treatment of Common Colds, Mixed Infections of the Respiratory Mucous Membranes, Acute and Chronic Catarrhal Conditions of the Nose, Throat and Respiratory Passages.”

No evidence is submitted for this recommendation except that in “colds and bronchitis and the other common infections of the upper respiratory passages ... five or six bacteria are very commonly present—two or more of them are nearly always present ...” and the letter by the director of the Mulford Biologic Laboratories expressing the belief that in his own case the use of the mixed vaccine has aborted or prevented colds.

As regards the use of this complex biologic preparation:

First, the cause of common colds is, at the present time, quite unknown. One of the most striking things is that at the beginning of a cold the organisms to be cultivated from the nasal mucous membrane are very few in number and there is no uniformity in the type of organism found. If someone of the well-known organisms (Strepto­coccus, Staphylo­coccus, Pneumo­coccus, Micro­coccus Catarrhalis, Influenza Bacillus, etc.) were responsible, we should expect to find one of them preponderating and in overwhelming numbers. This is far from the case. After the duration of the cold for a day or two with the increased production of mucus and apparently with the infection of a mucous membrane whose powers of resistance have been greatly lowered, bacteria of all kinds are to be found in immense numbers. There is considerable reason for believing that an ultramicroscopic organism is responsible for this condition (See Foster, Journal of Infectious Diseases 21:451 [Nov.] 1917).

Second, there is no acceptable clinical evidence that vaccination with the influenza bacillus, the Strepto­coccus, the Pneumo­coccus or the Micro­coccus Catarrhalis will influence the course of an infection due to one or the other of these organisms. It has been repeatedly found that a staphylo­coccus vaccine is of a certain degree of value when the infection with the staphylo­coccus is localized, but it is well known that general systemic infections with the staphylo­coccus are not at all benefited.