ASHLAND — Communicable illnesses have been a worldwide concern for thousands of years.
It was in 400 BC that Hippocrates described mumps, diphtheria, epidemic jaundice and other illnesses. Many mummies have been found to have smallpox lesions including Egyptian pharaoh Ramses V who died in 1156 BC.
Smallpox was of a great concern especially after exploration and colonization started around the world. On average, three out of every 10 people who got smallpox died. North American Indians were especially vulnerable because they had relatively no immunity from diseases brought here from Europe.
By the 1100’s the variolation technique was developed and used in China, India and the Middle East. This technique used small scabs or fluid pustules from smallpox sores which were rubbed into superficial scratches made on human skin. The pustules were also sometimes inhaled through the nose.
Treatment was administered to healthy individuals and the exposure caused a less severe reaction than natural exposure. The practice also created immunity.
This method was first introduced in England and North America in 1720 and met with public resistance even back then. Anti-vaccination Leagues were formed in England with objections based on issues such as religion, science, sanitary conditions and political views. However, the objections did not stop scientists from continuing their research.
By 1796, an English doctor named Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids who got cowpox from cow udders did not show any symptoms of smallpox at all when variolation was used on their skin. Cowpox usually created nothing more than one-time pustules on their hands and then they developed immunity.
Dr. Jenner was able to prove his theory that they were also immune to smallpox after exposure to cowpox and developed an injectable vaccine. By 1801, Jenner published his findings and the mass elimination of smallpox began.
Throughout the 1800’s researchers such as Louis Pasteur, George Miller Stemburg and Robert Koch made progress in identifying and growing bacteria and viruses in order to more create vaccines to help eliminate various diseases. In 1885, Louis Pasteur first used a rabies vaccine in humans. Subsequently, vaccines were introduced for diphtheria, cholera, typhoid, tetanus and bubonic plague.
Introduction of these vaccines were successful but there were issues with a small percentage of people dying from contaminated vaccines. In 1902, federal legislation was passed to oversee the administration of the purity of biological treatments.
County health departments in the United States became common in 1908 and were meant to monitor and help solve community health issues. Many existing vaccines also were officially licensed for use about this time but most of them were for bacterial infections. The research continued and vaccines were also approved for tuberculosis, pertussis (whooping cough) and yellow fever.
In 1918, the world dealt with an unusual virus which created a deadly pandemic. The Spanish flu was an H1N1 Influenza A virus that was estimated to have killed 50 million people worldwide and about 675,000 in the United States. It was unusual because it spread and killed quickly and had the most impact on younger, healthy people.
The Spanish flu infected about 1/3 of the world’s population which was about 500 million at that time. Areas that adopted mandatory isolation of the sick, closed schools, banned large gatherings, and required masks reduced the number of cases.
This flu prompted a race for a vaccine but it wasn’t until 1933 that scientists were finally able to isolate the virus. The military led the way in research due to the impact these types of illnesses had on their soldiers and operations.
From the early 1940’s to 1952, cases of polio were on the on the rise with several outbreaks in the United States. Jonas Salk created one of the first polio vaccines. In 1955, mass vaccinations occurred and new cases of polio were quickly and drastically reduced. Polio in the United Stated was declared as officially eradicated by 1979. This health issue led not only to a vaccine but also the idea that a standard set of vaccinations should be administered to the public to prevent pandemics.
Over the years, many vaccines have been combined into one injection such as the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella or DTP for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. Mass vaccinations have been performed with jet injectors which were invented in the 1960’s rather than a single needle when vaccinating for swine flu and smallpox. Many of us have that tell-tale scar on our upper left arm from the smallpox vaccine. To this day, smallpox is one of the deadliest diseases known to man but the only human disease totally eradicated by a vaccine.
Although whether to vaccine or not remains controversial, research and development is ongoing. Since 2000, vaccines for hepatitis, HIV, anthrax, ZIKA, cervical cancer and Ebola are either being researched, developed or approved. Oral vaccines cause gastrointestinal challenges and nasal vaccines are sometimes utilized but the usual delivery method is still the plain old single needle.
Considering it takes an average of 10-15 years to develop a vaccine, the approval of the Covid-19 vaccine in less than one year is quite remarkable especially with a reported 95% success rate. Prior to that, the mumps vaccine was the fastest to receive approval. It was four years in the making.
Based on past history, there is no doubt that once a vaccine is approved, scientists constantly work to make advancements to stop communicable diseases and reduce the number of injections necessary. 2021 will certainly bring about more research information on Covid-19 and the vaccine will continue to evolve.
