Dr. DeWitt Stetten, Jr. 
February 27, 1976 
Page 2 
are at risk for pregnancy, which further increases such susceptibility; 
these women should be appropriately informed prior to employment. 
Maternal infection might also place the fetus at risk for teratogenic 
effects from recombinant DNA carried by E_. coli . In addition, in the 
first month of life, gram-negative bacilli of enteric origin are the 
most common cause of bacterial meningitis. This disease, often 
acquired during birth, has a high mortality rate and a high permanent 
disability rate. 
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is also 
concerned about diarrhea, meningitis, and urinary tract infections caused 
by JE. coli (See attached agenda of meeting on Current Status and Prospects 
for Improved and New Bacterial Vaccines) . 
In summary, there is no information on the ability of _E. coli to 
colonize the female urinary tract. There is also no information on 
what effects viral or plasmid DNA might have on a developing fetus. 
The main point is that E_. coli is an opportunistic pathogen and has 
been demonstrated to cause severe illness in infants and in young women. 
Recombinant DNA carried by E. coli might also pose a risk for the 
developing fetus. 
2. My second area of concern is the use of SV-40 virus DNA. The 
effects of slow viruses on the developing brain are just now coming 
under study. What effect these viruses, which probably include the 
SV-40 viruses, may have on the production of disorders of the nervous 
system is not known, but many human neurological diseases are now 
known to be related to chronic viral infections. During the 
February 9-10 meeting, several speakers stated that, although SV-40 
virus was inoculated into hundreds of thousands of children along with 
the Salk vaccine, no human illness has resulted. Two papers have been 
published on the effects of SV-40 contaminated vaccine in man. M. D. 
Innis ("Oncogenesis and Poliomyelitis Vaccine" Nature 219:972, 1968), 
examined the oncogenic potential of parenterally administered 
poliomyelitis vaccine contaminated with SV-40. This study was done 
in Australia, where careful immunization records are kept on all 
hospitalized children. A significant difference was found in malignant 
disease in children over 1 year of age between those who had been 
immunized against poliomyelitis and those who had not. D. M. Baguley 
and G. L. Glasgow ("Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and Salk Vaccine" 
Lancet 2:763, 1973), reported the emergence of subacute sclerosing 
panencephalitis (SSPE) in New Zealand after September 1956, when the 
Salk vaccine was introduced. They feel that the Salk vaccine, and 
therefore SV-40 virus is implicated as a factor in the development of 
SSPE in New Zealand. Although again there is no direct evidence 
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