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Bottle for diphtheria vaccine, London, England, 1946
Bottle for diphtheria vaccine, with instructions (not seen), by Burroughs Wellcome and Co., London, 1946.
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Diphtheria is a bacterial infection which affects the throat. A membrane forms over the back of throat making swallowing and breathing difficult. The disease can be fatal and was once responsible for a significant proportion of childhood deaths.
Diphtheria is now rare in the United Kingdom because of vaccination programmes which began in 1940, when the death rate from diphtheria was high. Cases fell from 46,281 (2,480 deaths) in 1940, to 37 cases (6 deaths) in 1957. However, diphtheria is still common in other parts of the world. The vaccine was made by Burroughs, Wellcome & Co. It is shown here with a Record-type syringe (A500633/1).
- Measurements:
-
overall: 33 mm 17 mm, .01kg
- Materials:
- glass , rubber (unidentified) , plastic (unidentified) and paper (fibre product)
- Object Number:
- A629753/1
- type:
- vaccine
- Image ©
- The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
