t h e s t o r y b e h i n d VACCINES
Innovative techniques now drive vaccine
research, with recombinant DNA
technology and new delivery techniques
leading scientists in new directions
T
-
ward Jenner’s use of m
protection against smal
tory of infectious diseas
uses of smallpox mater
material from cowpox pustules to provide
smallpox. Rather, it begins with the long history
disease in humans, and in particular, with early
uses of smallpox material to provide immunity to that disease.
Evidence exists that the Chinese employed smallpox inoculation
(or variolation, as such use of smallpox material was
called) as early as 1000 CE. It was practiced in Africa and Turkey
as well, before it spread to Europe and the Americas.
Edward Jenner’s innovations, begun with his successful 1796
use of cowpox material to create immunity to smallpox, quickly
made the practice widespread. His method underwent medical
and technological changes over the next 200 years, and eventually
resulted in the eradication of smallpox.
Louis Pasteur’s 1885 rabies vaccine was the next to make an
impact on human disease. And then, at the dawn of bacteriology,
developments rapidly followed. Antitoxins and vaccines against
diphtheria, tetanus, anthrax, cholera, plague, typhoid, tuberculosis,
and more were developed through the 1930s.
The middle of the 20th century was an active time for vaccine
research and development. Methods for growing viruses in
the laboratory led to rapid discoveries and innovations, including
the creation of vaccines for polio. Researchers targeted other
common childhood diseases such as measles, mumps, and rubella,
and vaccines for these diseases reduced the disease burden
greatly.
Innovative techniques now drive vaccine research, with recombinant
DNA technology and new delivery techniques leading
scientists in new directions. Disease targets have expanded,
and some vaccine research is beginning to focus on non-infectious
conditions such as addiction and allergies.
History of Anti-Vaccination Movements
Health and medical scholars have described vaccination as
one of the top ten achievements of public health in the 20th century.
Yet, opposition to vaccination has existed as long as vaccination
itself, indeed, the pre-vaccination practice of variolation
came under criticism as well. Critics of vaccination have taken
a variety of positions, including opposition to the smallpox vaccine
in England and the United States in the mid to late 1800s,
and the resulting anti-vaccination leagues; as well as more recent
vaccination controversies such as those surrounding the safety
-
munization, the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine,
and the use of a mercury-containing preservative called thimerosal.
A large number of research studies have been conducted
to assess the safety of the MMR vaccine, and none of them
has found a link between the vaccine and autism.
Smallpox and the Anti-vaccination Leagues
in the United States
Toward the end of the 19th century, smallpox outbreaks
in the United States led to vaccine campaigns and related anti
vaccine activity. The Anti Vaccination Society of America was
founded in 1879, following a visit to America by leading British
anti-vaccinationist William Tebb. Two other leagues, the New
England Anti Compulsory Vaccination League (1882) and the
Anti-vaccination League of New York City (1885) followed. The
American anti-vaccinationists waged court battles to repeal vaccination
laws in several states including California, Illinois, and
Wisconsin.
In 1902, following a smallpox outbreak, the board of health
of the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, mandated all city residents
to be vaccinated against smallpox. City resident Henning
Jacobson refused vaccination on the grounds that the law violated
his right to care for his own body how he knew best. In turn,
battle locally, Jacobson appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In
1905 the Court found in the state’s favor, ruling that the state
could enact compulsory laws to protect the public in the event of
case concerning the power of states in public health law.
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18 • JULY 2019 813.682.9364 FLORIDA WOMEN MAGAZINE