WASHINGTON, May 26, 1955 (UP) -- Scientists, drug manufacturers and government officials set out today to devise a practical safety plan for the Salk vaccine. Their aim was a plan to permit early resumption of the nation's inoculation program.
An informed source said enough Salk vaccine may measure up quickly to the Government's tight new safety standards to permit partial resumption of the program next week.
His prediction followed a Public Health Service spokesman's comment that some vaccine manufacturers "on their own hook already have approached the standards" set yesterday but not immediately made public.
The new standards, it was understood, mainly call for a major increase in the volumes of the samples of vaccine to be tested at various stages during production. One source said the volume of samples tested in tissue cultures and live monkeys would be increased about twenty-fold.
A special committee of scientists -- including Dr. Jonas E, Salk, developer of the vaccine, and Dr. Thomas Francis Jr., who prepared the original report on its effectiveness -- began the new safety review today.
The Public Health Service said the committee "can be expected to move pretty fast" in its batch-at-a-time check of vaccine. It will review vaccine already produced but not yet released as well as vaccine produced in the future.
At the same time, industry and Health Service officials met to discuss the standards further and try to decide how they should apply to each manufacturer since they are a guide to production and do not spell out every step the manufacturer must follow.
