Microbiological bench with stool
1941
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Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Collection of items from the MRC Common Cold Unit, Harvard Hospital, Harnham Down, Wiltshire, England, 1946-1990
The Common Cold Unit (CCU) was a unit of the British Medical Research Council that undertook research on the common cold between 1946 and 1989. It studied the cause, the spread, the prevention and the treatment and published over 1,000 papers. It was based at Harvard Hospital, a former military hospital at Harnham Down near Salisbury in Wiltshire.
The research required lots of volunteers and they were recruited for clinical trials via advertisements in newspapers, staging the research as an unusual holiday opportunity that volunteers were paid a small amount to attend. Some were infected with preparations of cold viruses, and some given placebos, and all were watched and recorded for around 10 days by CCU staff. They stayed in small groups of two or three but were strictly isolated from other groups and the public, although they were allowed to go for walks in the countryside around Salisbury.
The volunteers came to stay on a fortnightly basis. They would arrive on a Wednesday to have an examination and x-ray and then would quarantine for 3 days to ensure they hadn’t caught a cold from the outside. They were then administered nose drops containing either the cold virus or a placebo on a Saturday, and observed with their pulse, temperature and symptoms recorded over the following week. The rooms the volunteers stayed in were fitted out with lots of activities to keep them occupied such as a radio, telephone, books and games, and during the early years when rationing was still in place, hot meals three times a day was also a big attraction. These common facilities that played such a huge part in the stays of the volunteers made up a large amount of the objects collected by the Science Museum when the CCU was shut down in 1990.
The Common Cold Unit site was formerly the American Red Cross Harvard Hospital which worked on communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria during the Second World War in 1941-42. The hospital was taken over by the US Army in 1942 as part of the war effort. It carried on its research work, but also became the main blood transfusion centre for the US Army in Europe during the war. After the war, the hospital was donated back to the UK, and Dr Christopher Andrewes took charge of the site and it became the home of the Common Cold Unit in July 1946, again carrying on research into infectious diseases.
The CCU’s work into the common cold was important and came at an interesting point in the history of medicine. By this point, and Dr Andrewes himself notes this, most ‘major killing plagues’ like cholera, typhoid, yellow fever and smallpox were under control in the UK, meaning that research institutions could turn their attention to the ‘lesser plagues, the miseries and inconveniences’ like the common cold. These illnesses can cause fatal to the very young and very old, and their economic cost in terms of sick leave can be substantial.
Despite the CCU’s work over the 43 years they were in operation, no cure for the common cold was found. However, research made by the Common Cold Unit discovered how the common cold is caused, how it spreads, and the impact on an international scale. It also improved our understanding of other respiratory viruses, their lifecycle and possible vaccines for the future.
Sterile manipulation cabinet with UV air sterilizer
1957-59
Experimental device for freezing cell cultures designed by James Lovelock and Chris Polge
1946-1969
Virus storage tube for small volumes
Specially-designed Atomiser Nozzle for Recreating Sneeze Droplets
1960-1962
'WHO' haemagglutination plates used at the Common Cold Research Unit
1950-1959
Petri dish for organ culture
Plastic petri dish, the preferred receptacle for organ culture
Model 23A Direct reading pH meter used to monitor the pH of media
Roller drum unit for agitating tissue cultures in fluid media
1958-1959
Haemocytometer
Bucket
Blood recipient sets
1944
Walls, ceiling and door of a volunteer's flat
Utility-type wardrobe
Utility-type chest of drawers
Single bed comprising headboard
Mattress for a single bed
Bedding for single bed comprising 2 blankets
Chair
Curtains and curtain rail
Mirror
Table
Lamp
Waste bin
Light shade
Lino-topped desk from the volunteers' flat at the Common Cold Research Unit, Europe, 1946-1990
1946-1990
Table and chair
Coffee table
1947-1975
Table
Standard lamp from Common Cold Research Unit volunteers' flat
1941-1975
Carpet with orange and brown circular pattern
`Zephyr' convector heater
Dartboard, with wallcase and two sets of darts
Hardboard wooden-edged jigsaw puzzle board
Framed prints showing country scenes
Battery-driven Quartz Clock by Smiths, British, 1980-85
1971-1979
Long and Medium Waveband Radio, 1960-1970
1960-1970
Metal electric kettle
Aluminium kettle from the kitchen of volunteers' flat at the Common Cold Research Unit
1957
Electric iron
Toaster
Electric toaster
`Wear-ever' tray
Hot plate
1960-1980
Saucepan
Coffee pot
1947-1980
sugar bowl
milk jug
Gravy boat
Coffee pot
1966
Glass cruet set comprising salt and pepper shakers and mustard jar with spoon
Two novels and a dictionary
Gideons Bible
Wellington boots
Gown and mask
Metal soap dish
Bucket
Chamber pot
Large vacuum flasks from Common Cold Research Unit
White painted wooden box for holding vacuum flasks
White enamelled metal table
Tissues, plastic bags
Thermometers and holders
Three-wheeled wooden framed wheelchair
1940-1945
Packing case used to bring over equipment to Harvard Red Cross Hospital from USA
Blackboard for entering volunteers' bookings
1945-1953
T-shirt and sweatshirt
Coughs and sneezes
1942-1945
Framed photograph showing aerial view of Harvard Hospital
1945-1975
Rack containing virus storage tubes for storing specimens from experiments and volunteers at -70 C
Untrypsinising filter
MRC Common Cold Reseach Unit scrapbook and cuttings
1980-1986
Common Cold Research Unit photographs and magazines
1980-1986
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Details
- Category:
- Public Health & Hygiene
- Object Number:
- 1990-84
- type:
- collection
- credit:
- MRC Common Cold Unit
