NEW DRUG

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 114, 27 February 1950, Page 2

NEW DRUG

ACUTE CASES OF TUBERCULOSIS BRITISH AUTHORITY’S OBSERVATIONS (P.A.) AUCKLAND, Feb. 2G. One of the world’s foremost authorities on medicinal treatment of disease, and a close friend of the late Lord Rutherford, Sir Henry Dale, 0.M., G.8.E., F.R.S., of London,, arrived at Auckland in the Rangitane to-day. During an eight weeks’ stay in the Dominion he will lecture on pharmacology and therapeutics in the main medical and university centres as a guest of the Government.

Advances in medicinal therapeutics during the last half-century and particularly in the last 20 years had been immense, said Sir Henry Dale in an interview on the ship. Asked to comment on reports that a comparatively new “wonder” drug, streptomycin, used in the treatment of tuberculosis had harmful effects, he said that so far as he knew no great success had been obtained when it was used for a long course of treatment of chronic tuberculosis, and in such cases there were undesirable secondary effects. “On the other hand, there is no doubt that streptomycin in cases of acute tuberculosis has achieved some remarkable cures,” he continued. “While that does not immediately open any prospect of great hope for chronic sufferers, it is opening the door to new possibilities of directly treating tuberculosis infection. Things are'advancing so rapidly that in some direction or other, not necessarily with streptomycin, we not only hope but expect further developments.” Information on Chloromycetin, a more recent discovery, given by Sir Henry Dale. He said this was a very remarkable antibiotic produced from the growth of a mould with a specific, and rapidly curative action on infections of the typhus group. During the Second World War, when Chloromycetin was not available, armies in the East, particularly in Burma, had tremendous trouble with “scrub” typhus. It had been regarded as highly fatal, and in any case a long and severe illness, followed by a long period of convalescence. With Chloromycetin that disease could now be cured, with practical certainty, in a couple of days. Opening Another Chapter Sir Henry . Dale said that aureomycin, another antibiotic, had already been shown to act on some of the infections caused by viruses unaffected by sulphanilamide, penicillin, streptomycin, and others. It looked- like opening up another big chapter in all directions. The advance of medicinal therapeutics in that field had been extraordinarily rapid and quite brilliant, with promise for the future. When Sir Henry Dale, who was chairman of the ’British Medical Research Council’s committee on atomic energy; was asked whether Britain was lagging behind the United States and Russia in this direel ion, he replied “certainly not behind Russia.”

“:.*«, rot let New Zealand foi'get that the fundamental science which .led to the release of atomic energy was due to the work of Ernest Rutherford,” lie said. “What happened during the war was the local practical development. The project of releasing atomic energy necessitated by the war originated in England and was by arrangement located in the United States for development., because England was under constant aerial inspection and the risk of bombardment. However, the enormous technical resources of the United States and the great scientific potential which that country could contribute played a huge part. It was always foreseen that Russia was bound to do something in this direction. The only question was how soon. I think Russia succeeded rather quicker than most people expected.”