Infectious Disease, Allergy, and Immunotherapy Collections

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The museum’s collections contain many objects that document antibody-based methods of preventing, treating, or diagnosing disease, but which have not yet been given their own disease-specific section on this website. This section provides an overview of a few of these other types of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics.

Be sure to see the full range of these widely varied objects in the attached object records after the essay.

Therapies, Vaccines, and Diagnostics Not Covered in Disease-Specific Website Sections

Numerous serums and antitoxins developed to fight diseases such as scarlet fever, dysentery, and botulism are held by the museum. Other examples include anti-pneumococcic serum to treat pneumonia, anti-meningococcic serum to treat meningitis, and perfringens antitoxin to treat gas gangrene.

Collection of antitoxins and serums
 

Botulism Antitoxin, F(ab), 1990. Scarlet Fever Streptococcus Antitoxin – Concentrated, ca 1929. Serum Antidysenterique (Anti Dysentery Serum), ca 1900-1920.

The collections also include vaccines against plague, hookworm, and anthrax, recombinant vaccines to prevent hepatitis B, and vaccines intended to prevent cholera.

Collection of vaccines and immunizations
 

Hookworm Vaccine, New drug limited by Federal Law to investigative use only, 2004. Mulford Southern Brand V23 - Anthrax Spore Vaccine No. 4 - for Immunization of Horses, Mules, Cattle, and Sheep, ca 1957. Recombivax HB, Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant), ca 1988.

Diagnostics that test the body’s immunity to disease are well-represented in the collections. The museum has also collected antibody-based tests that can diagnose whether health risks, such as plague, are present in the environment.

Streptococcus Toxin for Dick Test, ca 1947
 
- Antigen Rapid Test for Yersinia pestis
 

Streptococcus Toxin for Dick Test, ca 1947, used to determine susceptibility to scarlet fever. SMART Yersinia pestis Anti F-1 Detection Kit for Environmental Sampling - Antigen Rapid Test for Yersinia pestis, ca 1998, tests for the presence of plague.

Allergy

Mulford Fall Pollen Mixture
 

Mulford Fall Pollen Mixture - Pollen Extract Made from the Pollens of Ragweed, English Plantain and Lamb's Quarters.

From the 1920s to the 1950s, pharmaceutical companies such as Lederle, H.K. Mulford, Sharpe & Dohme, and Parke, Davis & Co. produced a wide range of products intended to test for, treat, and even prevent allergies to common environmental irritants such as house dust, animal proteins, foods, poison ivy and oak, and an abundant variety of pollens. These products represent the period’s general excitement around the idea that immunizations might be able to prevent a multitude of health problems. The objects also document early research into the part antibodies and immunity play in allergic reactions.

Ivyol - Poison Ivy Extract
 
Test Board of Dried Proteins
 

Ivyol - Poison Ivy Extract - for the Prophylaxis of Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac Dermatitis, ca 1957. Test Board of Dried Proteins Used for Skin Tests for the Diagnosis of Allergies, ca 1922.

Immunotherapy

Coley's Mixture
 

Coley's Mixture - A Mixed Culture of Streptococcus Pyogenes and Bacillus Prodigiosus, Parke, Davis and Company, 1898

Early research into immunotherapy and cancer treatment is documented in the museum’s collections. One example is Coley’s Mixture, a bacterial mixture manufactured by Parke, Davis & Co. “for the treatment of malignant neoplasms, particularly sarcoma.” The product was inspired by the work of William B. Coley, who in 1891 provided one of the first proofs of the potential value of immunotherapy when he treated a patient with cancer by causing an infection at the site of the tumor through an injection of streptococcus bacteria.

Some of the collection’s more unusual objects offer insight into a period in American medical research when the potential of immunotherapies was being probed and tested. “Immunogen” treatments for streptococcal arthritis and bee venom solution for diagnosis and treatment of arthritis are just a few examples of such objects in the collections.

Streptococcus Immunogen Arthritis
 
Lyovac Bee Venom Solution
 

Streptococcus Immunogen Arthritis - Bacterial Antigen made from 2000 million per cc. hemolytic and non-hemolytic Streptococci isolated from rheumatic cases, ca 1937. Lyovac Bee Venom Solution for Diagnosis and Treatment of Arthritis, ca 1955.

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Recombivax HB, Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant) Adult Formula, 3 mL

Recombivax HB is a vaccine that provides immunization against Hepatitis B. It is injected intramuscularly. Recombivax HB is the first recombinant vaccine.
Description (Brief)
Recombivax HB is a vaccine that provides immunization against Hepatitis B. It is injected intramuscularly. Recombivax HB is the first recombinant vaccine. Prior hepatitis B vaccines relied on viruses derived from human blood sources.
Recombinant pharmaceuticals are created by inserting genes from one species into a host species, often yeast or bacteria, where they do not naturally occur. The genes code for a desired product, and therefore the genetically modified host organisms can be grown and used as a kind of living factory to produce the product. In this case, genes coding for the hepatitus B virus's surface antigen are inserted into yeast. Yeast produce the hepatitis B surface antigens, which are harvested and used as the active ingredient in Recombivax HB. Surface antigens are the part of the hepatitis B virus that the body recognizes to create an immune response. After being exposed to the antigen, the body learns to identify and respond quickly to the presence of hepatitis B and can successfully ward off future possible infections.
Object consists of a white cardboard box with red stripes and light blue, red and black printing. Box contains product insert and round clear glass bottle with green metal top and white label. Bottle contains clear solution.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1986
product expiration date
1988-06-19
maker
Merck Sharp and Dohme
ID Number
1987.0782.02
accession number
1987.0782
catalog number
1987.0782.02

Recombivax HB, Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant) Pediatric Formulation, 0.5 mL

Recombivax HB is a vaccine that provides immunization against hepatitis B. It is injected intramuscularly. Recombivax HB is the first recombinant vaccine.
Description (Brief)
Recombivax HB is a vaccine that provides immunization against hepatitis B. It is injected intramuscularly. Recombivax HB is the first recombinant vaccine. Prior hepatitis B vaccines relied on viruses derived from human blood sources.
Recombinant pharmaceuticals are created by inserting genes from one species into a host species, often yeast or bacteria, where they do not naturally occur. The genes code for a desired product, and therefore the genetically modified host organisms can be grown and used as a kind of living factory to produce the product. In this case, genes coding for the hepatitis B virus's surface antigen are inserted into yeast. Yeast produce the hepatitis B surface antigens, which are harvested and used as the active ingredient in Recombivax HB. Surface antigens are the part of the hepatitis B virus that the body recognizes to create an immune response. After being exposed to the antigen, the body learns to identify and respond quickly to the presence of hepatitis B and can successfully ward off future possible infections.
Object consists of a white cardboard box with light blue stripes and light blue, red, and black printing. Box contains a product insert and a round clear glass bottle with metal top and white label. Bottle contains clear solution.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1988
product expiration date
1988-05-14
maker
Merck Sharp and Dohme
ID Number
1987.0782.01
accession number
1987.0782
catalog number
1987.0782.01

Vial, Botulism Anti-Toxin

First Flight was a thoroughbred horse that was transformed by scientists into a living factory to produce botulism antitoxin from the late 1970s through the 1990s.Originally a race horse, First Flight later worked as a caisson horse in military funerals at Arlington National Cere
Description (Brief)
First Flight was a thoroughbred horse that was transformed by scientists into a living factory to produce botulism antitoxin from the late 1970s through the 1990s.
Originally a race horse, First Flight later worked as a caisson horse in military funerals at Arlington National Ceremony. After serving for a time in this capacity, he was found to be too skittish. In 1978, at the age of 10 years, First Flight was transferred to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
Scientists at USAMRIID undertake defense research against biological weapons, and while there First Flight participated in efforts to produce a countermeasure against attack with botulinum toxin. As the most powerful natural poison known to exist, botulinum represents one of the greatest threats for biological warfare. Produced by the bacteria Clostradium botulinum, the toxin is responsible for botulism, a disease which results in paralysis and often death if not treated. (The powers of botulinum are also put to work in the popular drug Botox, which, when injected, reduces the appearance of wrinkles by paralyzing facial muscles.)
Researchers harnessed the power of First Flight’s immune system to produce the antitoxin. They injected him with altered less-toxic forms of the botulinum toxin in order to induce his body to produce antibodies against the attack. Antibodies are small, disease-specific proteins the body produces in order to recognize and help fight invading infectious agents. After First Flight produced sufficient botulinum antibodies to protect himself, scientists injected him with the real toxin, which boosted his production of antibodies even further.
First Flight was then carefully bled to obtain the antibodies from his blood. These antibodies, contained in his blood plasma, made up the key ingredient in antitoxin serum. Once purified, the serum could be injected into humans suffering from botulism in order to neutralize the effects of the botulinum toxin. This form of treatment, known as serum therapy, has been practiced since the late 19th century, when it was important in the fight against rabies, diphtheria, tetanus, and other illnesses.
In 1980 First Flight moved to a new home at the University of Minnesota Medical School, which specialized in harvesting horse antibodies. Nearly 16,000 liters of blood were removed from First Flight during his time at Minnesota, and he became the nation’s sole source of antitoxin against all seven forms of botulinum toxin. With the start of the Gulf War in 1991, First Flight’s antitoxin was shipped to Saudi Arabia to be at hand should Saddam Hussein order the use of botulinum toxin to attack U.S. troops. Thankfully, the serum did not need to be used.
First Flight eventually retired from service and returned to Fort Detrick, where he died at age 31 in his paddock on May 17, 1999, of natural causes.
Sources:
Accession File
“Race for a Remedy.” Crowley, Carolyn. Smithsonian Magazine. December 2000.
“Botulinum Toxin (Botulism) Fact Sheet.” University of Pittsburg Medical Center for Health Security. http://www.upmchealthsecurity.org/website/our_work/biological-threats-and-epidemics/fact_sheets/botulinum.html
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990-09-14
maker
University of Minnesota
ID Number
2001.0131.02
catalog number
2001.0131.02
accession number
2001.0131

Antitoxin, Baby BIG (Botulism Immune Globulin)

The California Department of Health Service and the Massachusetts Public Health Biologic Laboratories jointly developed Baby BIG (Botulism Immune Globlulin) antitoxin to treat infants infected with infant botulism.
Description (Brief)
The California Department of Health Service and the Massachusetts Public Health Biologic Laboratories jointly developed Baby BIG (Botulism Immune Globlulin) antitoxin to treat infants infected with infant botulism. In adults and older children, botulism infection is the result of ingesting food containing botulinum toxin produced by botulism bacteria growing in food. Infant botulism on the other hand, occurs when babies ingest bacterial spores and the bacteria colonize their large intestines. The disease is rare enough to have qualified for “orphan disease” status in 1989, which helped provide funding for the development of Baby BIG.
While botulism antitoxin has been produced commercially in the United States since 1940, using it to treat infants carried risks. Historically, antitoxin was derived from the blood serum of horses who had been injected with the botulinum toxin. Blood serum from these inoculated horses contained protective antibodies, which when injected into infected humans worked as an immune-response boosting antitoxin. (For more on equine botulism antitoxin see object 2001.0131.02 Vial, botulism anti-toxin.) Although generally successful in treating botulism, the horse-derived antitoxin serum sometimes induced allergic responses or serum sickness in patients, a complication that could be particular harmful for already ill infants.
For this reason, doctors preferred to use human-derived rather than horse-derived serum in the treatment of infants. Human-derived serum was first developed by the U.S. Army in the late 1970s and became available for public use in the early 1980s. With the start of the Gulf War, however, the military source of the antitoxin dried up as reserves were diverted to prepare for possible biological warfare attacks. In 1991 the California Department of Health Service and the Massachusetts Public Health Biologic Laboratories began work to develop their own human-derived botulism antitoxin. CDHS collected blood plasma from volunteers on its staff, who had already been inoculated against botulism for workplace safety. Their antibody-rich blood plasma formed the basis of the drug Baby BIG, which the FDA gave final approval for commercial sale for the treatment of infant botulism in 2003.
“Human Botulism Immune Globulin for the Treatment of Infant Botulism.” Stephen S. Arnon et al. New England Journal of Medicine. Vol. 354, No. 5. 2 February 2006. p.462.
“Creation and Development of the Public Service Orphan Drug Human Botulism Immune Globulin.” Stephen S. Arnon. Pediatrics. Vol. 119, No. 4. 4 April 2007.
“Summary Basis of Approval: Botulism Immune Globulin Intravenous (Human) (BIG-IV)” U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/bloodbloodproducts/approvedproducts/licensedproductsblas/fractionatedplasmaproducts/ucm117169.pdf
“Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Infant Botulism.” Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program, Division of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Public Health. http://www.infantbotulism.org/
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2004
product expiration date
2004-05-12
maker
Massachusetts Public Health Biologic Laboratories
Cangene Corporation
ID Number
2004.0134.01
accession number
2004.0134
catalog number
2004.0134.01

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