Transmission of the Common Cold to Volunteers Under Controlled Conditions

Abstract

The common cold is one of the most fre¬ quent and universal infections of man.Nevertheless, little is known regarding its specific etiology, and the diagnosis must be a clinical one. Until the infectious agent can be propagated, characterized by microbiologic and pathologic methods and consist¬ ently transmitted to experimental animals or in tissue cultures, transmission to humans appears to be the best method for study.In this manner, information can be obtained about the nature of the infection, factors that influence the susceptibility or resistance of the human host, and conditions that favor spread of the illness.During the past five years we have made observations upon more than 1000 volun¬ teers who were challenged with infectious nasal secretions obtained from persons with a common cold or with a blank solution used as a control. The clinical findings were re-Dr. Spiesman died Sept. 11, 1954. corded daily. Examination of the nose and throat was of no value in detecting the presence of a cold, and it was necessary to develop an objective and consistent method of scoring symptoms. Upon this basis, cri¬ teria were developed for the diagnosis of a cold following challenge with an infectious secretion which permitted the uniform eval¬ uation of serial experiments. The present report describes the clinical features of the common cold among volunteers and the criteria that were used to diagnose an ex¬ perimental cold. MethodsNasal secretions were obtained from a donor with a typical common cold and filtered through a bactériologie porcelain filter. The specimen was diluted 1:10 with an isotonic salt solution buffered to pH 7.4 to which 0.5% yeast extract or 5% human Type O hemoglobin was added as a stabilizing protein. Multiple aliquote were stored in screw cap vials at -70 C in a mechanical re¬ frigerator. Samples of the nasal secretion were routinely inoculated into embryonated hen eggs by both the allantoic and the amniotic routes, for the identification of influenza, mumps, and psittacosis viruses. Suckling mice were given intraperitoneal injections, and adult mice, both intraperitoneal and intracranial, for the identification of Coxsackie, herpes, and encephalitis agents. Human epithelial cells, strain HeLa, and monkey-kidney cells in tissue cultures were used to identify adenovirus and poliomyelitis viruses. Suckling hamsters were given inoculations of some of the secretions. Serial passages, animal fatality, hemagglutination, cytotoxicity, histocytology, and sero¬ logie methods were used to identify, insofar as possible, strains of known viruses. Secretions that were found to be free of disease-producing agents were tested for infectivity in from 6 to 12 volunteers.

An open label, randomized, multicenter, comparative, three arm Phase II clinical study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of mixture of five species of Ocimum in subjects with acute common cold

“…(1) male or female between 18-60 years of age, (2) willing to give written informed consent and follow up as per the protocol, (3) had an acute common cold within 36-48 h. (from past 1-2 d.), (4) had at least the first four symptoms of common cold: sneezing, nasal obstruction, nasal discharge, sore throat, chilliness, headache, malaise and cough and (5) had a score of  6, as mentioned in the modified Jackson's score table (Jackson et al, 1958).…”

Paranasal Sinus Findings in Children During Respiratory Infection Evaluated With Magnetic Resonance Imaging

“…The occurrence and duration of acute symptoms were evaluated with modified criteria developed by Jackson et al 5 The severity of each symptom was graded on a scale from 0 (not present) to 4 (very severe) and summed up to get the total symptom scores.…”

The Effect of Zinc and "Health Belief Model" Based Education on Common Cold Prevention in Soldiers

“…In another study performed in 2001 by Turner, intranasal spray of Zinc Gluconate was of no benefit in preventing common cold which was induced by rhinovirus inoculation [4] . Jackson performed a meta-analysis using 10 clinical trials and concluded that zinc gluconate lozenges was of no benefit treating common cold [11] . Below, some reasons of this controversy in different researches are listed:…”