The Common Cold Unit (CCU) or Common Cold Research Unit (CCRU) was a unit of the British Medical Research Council (MRC). The Unit undertook laboratory and epidemiological research on the common cold between 1946 and 1989 and produced 1,006 papers. The unit studied aetiology, epidemiology, prevention, and treatment of common colds. It was based on Harvard Hospital located at Harnham Down near Salisbury in England, previously an infectious diseases and then military hospital brought by the US to England in the beginning of the Second World War. and the economic costs are substantial in terms of sick leave. The public-facing side of the CCU involved continually recruiting human volunteers, by advertising. Volunteers were housed at the hospital, typically for ten days while participating in common cold trials. Some degree of isolation from each other was enforced as well as restrictions on leaving the site.

Human coronaviruses, which are responsible for about 10% of common colds, were first isolated from volunteers at the unit in 1965. The unit closed in 1990, and the area was later redeveloped and absorbed into the city of Salisbury, although there is a memorial plaque at the site referring to its former use as the Harvard Hospital.

History

Dr Kruse's 1914 findings

In 1914 at the Hygienic Institute, University of Leipzig, German bacteriologist Dr. Walther Kruse took a sample of nasal secretions from his assistant who had a head cold, diluted it 15-fold with Saline solution and filtered it to remove all bacteria. Four out of the twelve members of his staff who were given drops of this solution up their nose developed a cold between one and three days after receiving the drops. It was the first direct evidence that colds were an infectious disease and that they were caused by something other than bacteria.

They suspected that Chimpanzees might be able to catch colds from their, human, keepers; and that they had all the symptoms of a human cold, except fever. To test this, the keepers had to wear gowns and face masks: the chimpanzees with infected with bacterial-free filtered human common cold secretions; and, seven out of sixteen chimpanzees caught colds.

Christopher Andrewes

The virologist Christopher Andrewes met Alphonse Dochez, in New York, in 1931, by accident and became interested in his work. Dochez and his assistants were carrying out work, under conditions of isolation, on both chimpanzees and humans infected with filtered bacteria-free filtrates of nasal samples taken from people with colds. Dochez's group were also attempting to cultivate cold viruses obtained from human nasal samples, using chopped up chick embryos dispersed in an oxygen-free medium.

Andrewes recruited about 100 medical students from St Bartholomew's Hospital, City of London, and carried out the tests on groups of between eight and ten students at a time, instead of using chimpanzees, as student volunteers were cheaper. No attempt was made to isolate the students and they carried on with their studies. Andrewes was able produce colds in these volunteers using nasal samples taken from people with colds. However, he was unable to confirm Dochez's findings that these viruses could be grown in chick embryo oxygen-free medium. Dochez came to London with some of his cultures, but Andrewes again had negative results; and, in 1932, the MRC terminated these studies. The Ministry of Health (for England and Wales) bought the land from its existing owners; provided services, including water, electricity and sewage; and, paid for the on-going running costs, buying the food, cooking, cleaning and laundry.

As an example, he mentioned one particular suggestion as to how volunteers might be found: it was that Prisoners released on parole (requiring good conduct), or servicemen might, be recruited. However, it was decided that "being under strong discipline they could not be considered to volunteer freely"; and, so the suggestion was rejected.

Results

During the CCU's existence, thousands of volunteers participated in research in which they were inoculated with common cold viruses or were in a control group, but no cure for the common cold was found. Despite these dead ends, the findings made by the CCU improved the understanding of respiratory viruses, their lifecycles, and possible vaccines. A key finding was the level of the Hemagglutination assay that could be used as Correlates of immunity for influenza vaccines.

Sources

Books

Journals, papers and newspapers

Web sites

Footnotes

References

  • History of the Common Cold Unit - a British Library oral history project