For a Pivotal Vaccine: Trial, Error, and Two Young Lives

The child falls sick shortly after Christmas. At first he has a cough and a runny nose. Soon his breathing grows labored. On the afternoon of Dec. 30, 1966, he arrives at Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. A clinical report describes him as a “well-developed, well-nourished Negro boy in acute respiratory distress.” He is 14 months old.

That evening, another child arrives at the same hospital: a previously healthy Black boy, aged 16 months, running a fever and struggling to breathe. His small rib cage flexes and caves as he sucks in air.

Hospital staff give the children oxygen, aspirin, and penicillin. But when New Year’s Eve arrives, both are in grave condition. The 16-month-old child passes away shortly after 2:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day — “somewhat suddenly and unexpectedly,” according to his autopsy report. The 14-month-old dies the next day, Jan. 2, in the late morning.

In the days that follow, senior officials at the hospital and the National Institutes of Health exchange urgent messages about the two boys’ mysterious deaths, as well as several other anomalous cases of sick children. Those cases will soon reshape an entire federal research program. Top scientists will devote portions of their careers to studying what, precisely, happened that winter.