Most had been exposed prior to vaccination and none had received the full series of vaccine doses being studied. Additionally, a polio epidemic in Raleigh, North Carolina provided an opportunity for the U.S. Public Health Service to conduct a highly structured trial of the Brodie vaccine using funding from the Birthday Ball Commission. Academic reception
While their work was ongoing, the larger community of bacteriologists began to raise concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of the new poliovirus vaccines. At this time there was very little oversight of medical studies, and ethical treatment of study participants largely relied upon moral pressure from peer academic scientists. Brodies inactivated vaccines faced scrutiny from many who felt killed virus vaccines could not be efficacious. While researchers were able to replicate the tissue immunity he had produced in his animal trials, prevailing wisdom was that humoral immunity was essential for an efficacious vaccine. Kolmer directly questioned the killed virus approach in scholarly journals. Kolmers studies however had raised even more concern with increasing reports of children becoming paralysed following vaccination with his live virus vaccine and notably, with paralysis beginning at the arm rather than the foot in many cases. Both Kolmer and Brodie were called to present their research at the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association in Milwaukee WI in October 1935. Additionally, Dr. Thomas M. Rivers was asked to discuss each of the presented papers as a prominent critic of the vaccine development effort.
This resulted in the APHA arranging a Symposium on Poliomyelitis to be delivered at the Annual Meeting of their Southern Branch the following month. It was during the discussion at this meeting that Dr. James Leake of the U.S. Public Health Service stood to immediately present clinical evidence that the Kolmer vaccine had caused several deaths and then allegedly accused Kolmer of being a murderer. As Rivers recalled in his oral history, "All hell broke loose, and it seemed as if everybody was trying to talk at the same time....Jimmy Leake used the strongest language that I have ever heard used at a scientific meeting." In response to the attacks from all sides, Brodie was reported to have stood up and stated, "It looks as though, according to Dr. Rivers, my vaccine is no good, and, according to Dr. Leake, Dr Kolmers is dangerous." Kolmer simply responded by stating, "Gentlemen, this is one time I wish the floor would open up and swallow me." Ultimately, Kolmers live vaccine was undoubtedly shown to be dangerous and had already been withdrawn in September 1935 prior to the Milwaukee meeting. While the consensus of the symposium was largely sceptical of the efficacy of Brodies vaccine, its safety was not in question and the recommendation was for a much larger well-controlled trial.