Have you ever contracted smallpox? Most likely you haven’t thanks to a physician named Edward Jenner! Dr. Jenner created the world’s first vaccine for smallpox in the 1790’s practically eliminating smallpox worldwide. It all started when Dr. Jenner took pus from a cowpox lesion on a milkmaid’s hand, and then inoculated an eight-year-old boy, James Phipps. Six weeks later Dr. Jenner injected smallpox onto two sites of Phipp’s arm, as a result Phipp was successfully unaffected. A little more than a century ago, the U.S. infant mortality rate before age five was a staggering 20% because of the common infectious diseases such as measles, diphteria, smallpox, and pertussis. Fortunately, these horrible diseases are controlled thanks to Dr. Jenner and the widespread distribution of safe, effective, and affordable vaccines.
After Dr. Jenner’s milkmaid experiments, they offered the scientific basis for vaccinology. French chemist Louis Pasteur, developer of the rabies vaccine, produced an antitoxin that functioned as a post-infection antidote, expanding the term beyond its association with cows and cowpox. Ultimatly, thanks to Pasteur today’s definition of vaccine is a “suspension of live or inactivated microorganisms or fractions thereof administered to induce immunity and prevent infecitous disease or its sequelae.”
Here is a timeline of the development of vaccines:
18th century
* 1796 First vaccine for Smallpox, first vaccine for any disease
19th century
* 1879 First vaccine for Cholera
* 1881 First vaccine for Anthrax
* 1882 First vaccine for Rabies
* 1890 First vaccine for Tetanus
* 1890 First vaccine for Diphtheria
* 1896 First vaccine for Typhoid fever
* 1897 First vaccine for Plague
20th century
* 1926 First vaccine for Pertussis
* 1927 First vaccine for Tuberculosis
* 1932 First vaccine for Yellow Fever
* 1937 First vaccine for Typhus
* 1945 First vaccine for Influenza
* 1952 First vaccine for Polio
* 1954 First vaccine for Japanese encephalitis
* 1957 First vaccine for adenovirus-4 and 7
* 1962 First Oral Polio Vaccine
* 1964 First vaccine for Measles
* 1967 First vaccine for Mumps
* 1970 First vaccine for Rubella
* 1974 First vaccine for Chicken Pox
* 1977 First vaccine for Pneumonia (Streptococcus pneumoniae)
* 1978 First vaccine for Meningitis (Neisseria meningitidis)
* 1981 First vaccine for Hepatitis B
* 1985 First vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae type b (HiB)
* 1992 First vaccine for Hepatitis A
* 1998 First vaccine for Lyme Disease
* 1998 First vaccine for rotavirus
As this timeline shows, we have come far with the prevention of serious deadly diseases since Jenner’s time. However, effective vaccines for two of the world’s leading killers, HIV and Malaria, are still being researched for a curable vaccine.
http://www.askbaby.com/timeline-vaccinations.htm
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/24/3/611
An Introduction to Dietary Supplements
17 years ago
8 comments:
are vaccinations, essentially just small doses of the disease? so then does our own immune system produce the antibodies for these diseases?
Wow I didn't realize that the chicken pox vaccine was a recent discovery! I wonder if there are any other new breakthroughs though...
Very informative. It was good to reflect back on the dates and understand when the vaccines were introduced. Thanks to all the scientist who found these, we are in a better place with this protection.
Very informative and interesting! I did not know who created the vaccine for smallpox until now.
Interesting. Now I know more about smallpox. This information was great~
i see.... never knew that much about vaccines, very interesting indeed. Learned a lot!
Yeah vaccines have come along way and we attribute our health to them. Many vaccines are now being developed via vectors which use viruses to transfer genes into a host to provide some sort of immunity or defense. It is sad to say that some parents do not want to vaccinate their children due to religious or ethical reasons. But most states will not allowed them to be exempt from vaccination due to public health reasons.
I found this particularly interesting because my Grandfather on my Mother's side of the family actually had, and lived through, smallpox. I guess it was before the vaccine was widely available or routinely administered.
Post a Comment