For centuries, smallpox devastated mankind, with the earliest evidence seen on the pocked faces of mummies in Egypt. The virus, which is part of the variola virus family, was vicious, killing three out of ten people who were infected. Today, however, smallpox isn’t just infamous for its deadly path of destruction. It’s also famous because it led to the first vaccine—and it’s the only disease to be eradicated by vaccination.
In 1796, an English doctor named Edward Jenner had an idea. He’d overheard conversations among milkmaids saying they were protected from smallpox. Those claiming to be immune had fallen ill with another virus in the variola family, called cowpox, which infects cows udders. It could also be passed to humans, forming pustules on their hands.
At the time, a process called “variolation” was in vogue. Variolation involved taking pus from a smallpox sore, and placing it under the skin of a healthy person to produce antibodies, along with a mild infection. Jenner knew about variolation, and wanted to know if exposure to cowpox could, indeed, protect people from smallpox.
“To test his theory, Dr. Jenner took material from a cowpox sore on milkmaid Sarah Nelmes’ hand and inoculated it into the arm of James Phipps, the 9-year-old son of Jenner’s gardener,” writes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He later exposed the child, multiple times, to the variola virus, with no ill effect. In 1801, Jenner, who is now considered the father of immunology, published “On the Origin of the Vaccine Inoculation,” laying the groundwork for modern vaccination.
It’s an intriguing history, and one that has gone on to shape the health of humankind. In the United States today, vaccines protect people from more than two dozen different diseases and infections. And while the Covid-19 vaccine has received the bulk of immunology affection lately, it was, in fact, created thanks to hundreds of years of science, research and expertise. To pay tribute to those scientists that paved the way, here are some of intriguing insights about vaccines, viruses, immunology and how we got to where we are today.
- Thanks to vaccines, there are many diseases you rarely hear about in the United States anymore. Diphtheria? Polio? Haemophilus influenzae type b? Tetanus? Vaccines have helped drastically reduce these infections, and so many more.
- Estimates by the World Health Organization say vaccines save 2.5 million lives every year, and protect millions more from illness and disability.
- Public health experts recommend that children receive 14 vaccines by the time they’re six years old. Some of those vaccines are combined into one, such as MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) and DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis). All 50 states have vaccine requirements for school entry and play a critical role in devising—and enforcing—childhood vaccination policies.
- When people don’t get vaccinated, diseases come back. Take measles, for example. In 2000, measles was declared to be eliminated, thanks to vaccines. Sadly, that’s no longer the case. You’ve probably read about outbreaks in recent years. It’s brought to the U.S. by travelers from foreign countries. The virus is incredibly contagious, and can spread to those who don’t have immunity. The re-emergence in the U.S. is yet another case study in the importance of vaccines!
- The polio vaccine has had enormous success in the United States, where the disease has been eliminated for more than 30 years, according to the CDC. Polio, which is caused by a virus and, in the most severe cases, can cause paralysis, was one of the most feared diseases of the early- to mid-twentieth century. Vaccines were developed in the 1950s, and no polio cases have originated in the U.S. since 1979. While most other countries have also eliminated polio, it remains endemic in two places: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Until it is fully eradicated, polio remains a threat to other areas through travel and trade.
- There’s a vaccine that prevents cancer. Yes, you read that right. HPV, or human papillomavirus, can cause several types of cancer. Since the HPV vaccine became available in 2006, potentially cancerous HPV infections and genital warts have decreased significantly, according to the CDC: in teen girls, they’ve dropped 88 percent; in young women, 81 percent and in adult women, 40 percent.
- In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) named vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 threats to global health. That same list—which now seems prescient—also listed a “global influenza pandemic” as a top threat: “The world will face another influenza pandemic – the only thing we don’t know is when it will hit and how severe it will be,” wrote WHO. “Global defences are only as effective as the weakest link in any country’s health emergency preparedness and response system.” That piece was published in March of 2019, exactly one year before the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic, and stay-at-home orders swept the United States.
For more than 200 years, vaccines have played a vital role in the health of our country, and our world. Throughout that history, safe and effective immunization has saved untold millions of lives. Today, we’re seeing the impact of vaccines in real time. In August, the CDC reported that unvaccinated people have five times more infections than vaccinated people and are 29 times more likely to end up in the hospital.
If you haven’t received your Covid-19 vaccine yet, please make an appointment with your primary care doctor or visit a clinic or pharmacy today.
