Medicine: Eye on the Needle

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As he takes his inoculations on one of the armed forces' medical production lines, many a G.I. has been moved to rueful speculation: How many shots must a man get before they begin to do more harm than good? Last week an Air Force doctor provided an answer that was hardly reassuring for the needle-shy. Repeated inoculations of vaccines, reported Major Rexford Haycraft, are not organically harmful.

In a two-year study, Dr. Haycraft worked with 200 of the Strategic Air Command's most imposing physical specimens. Half, designated as controls, had been given routine inoculations—an average of 40 shots per man. The other half—the test group—had been riddled with some 70 shots per man—dosed with eleven varieties of vaccine, ranging from yellow fever to Japanese B encephalitis. Subjects in both groups were regularly examined with X rays, electrocardiograms and blood tests, and when the evidence was in, doctors discovered that neither group had suffered any ill effects.

Dr. Haycraft's findings now go to the Influenza Commission, a part of the armed forces epidemiology board. Once approved, they will almost surely mean even more shots for G.I.s. For the commission has been awaiting Dr. Haycraft's report before releasing a new influenza vaccine for use in the armed forces.