Nose & Flu

A new powerful preventive of influenza is a natural substance in the nose. Dr. Thomas Francis Jr. of the University of Michigan, who discovered the substance, reported his researches last week at the New York Academy of Medicine.

He collected nasal discharges from 31 adults with colds, two with hay fever, and 15 who were normal. Half these people, regardless of their health, had a mysterious substance in their drippings which, in test tubes, neutralized Type A-flu virus within an hour. When minuscule quantities of the substance were dropped into the noses of mice, it protected them completely against 100 deadly doses of the virus. But when injected into their abdominal cavities, even larger quantities of the substance were ineffective against the virus. Reason: to stave off flu, the virus must be conquered at once, as soon as it enters the nose.

The protective substance, said Dr. Francis, may be similar to the antibodies which circulate throughout the blood stream once an attack of flu is under way. These antibodies are also produced by flu vaccine. The nasal brew is more effective than flu vaccine because it conquers the virus at the "portal of entry," the nose. The most that vaccine, or natural antibodies in the blood, can do is to limit the spread of the disease.

How this nasal substance is produced, Dr. Francis has not yet discovered. But it seems to be a permanent protection--people who have it, have it for good. In examining 668 people, he discovered that children do not produce the substance until the age of three or four. The problem now is to find out what it is, to stimulate its natural production. It may be that dripping vaccine into the nose will turn the trick.

-There are two identified types of influenza virus--A and B--and one or several unidentified types.

At present Type A seems to be most common.

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