The invention of vaccines has impacted health care over the course of history by curing diseases, preventing sickness, and creating advancements in medical technology. Through their research, a numerous amount of scientists have contributed to the vaccinations we have today.
One of the many diseases of the time was smallpox. Studies show that about five out of every fifteen people died from obtaining smallpox. The symptoms included a fever, severe pain, and a rash that was characterized by pustules. Most people who made it through the sickness were either left blind or had damage to the brain. As a matter of fact, the U.S. Army lost the Battle of Quebec because of this illness. Great Britain’s soldiers had been vaccinated, while the United States was not. The vaccine was introduced by a man named Edward Jenner in 1796, but the first person to actually use a vaccine was a farmer. His name was Benjamin Jerry and he vaccinated his family against smallpox in the 1774 epidemic.
A considerable amount of people did not have any defense against sickness in the mid- 19th century. There were instances when the disease was fatal and there was absolutely no cure to help the community. Vaccines had continued to improve as time went on. In 1882, Robert Koch created a vaccine for tubercle bacillus, otherwise known as tuberculosis. Louis Pasteur then generated another one from an infected rabbit brain in 1885. He took the material from the brain and transformed the substance into a vaccine. This vaccine was used to prevent against rabies and has been developed more efficiently since then.
In the early twentieth century, vaccinations were still flourishing and eradicating even more diseases. Pertussis was another dangerous illness of the time. Studies show that 142, 271 cases were said to exist. There were no vaccinations to prevent it until 1930. The vaccine provided relief to those who had the chance of getting infected with the disease. With the medical improvements of our modern time, there were only 15,632 cases in 2006, decreasing to about 20 cases now. In 1931, the tetanus toxoid, diphtheria toxoid, and pertussis vaccines were introduced, creating an even safer environment for the communities.
Polio was a major sickness that also effected tons of people. Young children were easily infected with polio, hence the reason there were so many that died . Most did not even make it until the age of five without dying since there were no vaccinations. A vaccine was then created in 1969 by Albert Sabin. This vaccine helped tremendously with the population and increased the health of children all over the world.
You may be asking, why does this matter when dealing with research? Well, without that these people, there would be no information or any of the techniques that we have today. These scientists led technology into a whole new perspective, influencing our health and safety through the invention of vaccinations. Without them, we probably would not be as healthy as we are now. Quite a few of us would be sick with a disease or even dead because of an illness. A handful of individuals question the safety of vaccines, saying that they can cause even bigger problems than there already is. Although, the whole point of having them is to ensure our health is great and to protect us from getting sick. Studies have shown that these injections do not directly give you a disease, it’s the side effects that occur because of receiving it. Everyone has a different immune system that may act more unusual compared to others. Whether the vaccine is dead or alive, pathogens are inserted into the body for the immune system to find a way to defend against these harmful viruses. Since 1924, more than 103 million cases of infectious diseases have been prevented because of these vaccinations.
Although vaccines have created a massive impact on our health, events have happened in which they did not work properly or even at all. Contaminations occurred that resulted in many deaths and other instances came about because of no vaccination at all. The Spanish flu was destructive to the bountiful amount of people it affected. As a matter of fact, in 1918, the Spanish flu killed a grand total of over fifty million people worldwide because of no vaccination. There was one called the BCG vaccine that helped fight against tuberculosis. This Bacillus Calmette-Guérin injection was given to hundreds of people in Germany. In 1929, over one hundred children died as a result of a contamination of the dose of BCG given in Lübeck, Germany. Another phenomenon was the plan of eradicating polio. In 1988, the World Health Assembly had a plan to completely eradicate polio by the year 2000. Unfortunately, that idea did not turn out as they planned and it has been extended since then. Different viruses infected the disease and caused it to have more development. The vaccines have been altered to hopefully help decrease the cases of polio each year.
Today, evaccinations are needed for a wide variety of things. They have improved dramatically over the centuries and continue to be enhanced as medical technology advances. Epidemiology has played a huge role in the prevention of disease. Through clinical trials, studies, and reports, scientists can help find ways to develop and alter vaccine according to the results of the experiments. In the United States, there are some laws that require the vaccination of children for school and public safety. For example, we all need certain shots when we turn a certain age to keep us healthy and to go to school. Individuals do argue that this is against civil rights and should not be tolerated, but if you think about it, the world without vaccinations would absolutely miserable. You probably would not even be able to go out in public without catching an illness. Since no one would be vaccinated, sickness would spread rapidly everywhere.
Studies show that without vaccination for measles, 2.6 million people would die each year. The population would slowly deteriorate over time, causing problems everywhere throughout the whole entire world. Other studies show that in 2012, there was more than 157,000 deaths because of measles. Receiving an immunization could have reduced this number to around 90,000. Between 2007 and 2014, 140,000 people became sick with a disease and 1,400 people died because of having no vaccination at all.
Society argues that there are many risks and side effects because of immunizations. Yes, there can be both side effects and risks, but would you want to put your life in danger when there is actually something that was created to help you? Countless sicknesses and diseases have been eradicated all because of a simple injection of a dose of vaccine. The first ever to be eradicated was smallpox. It has been eliminated along with rinderpest because of vaccinations. This is how the polio epidemic has decreased over time. Prevention from the illness has created a healthy environment for those exposed to it. Hopefully in the near future, polio can be completely eradicated. There are around 6.6 million children each year that still die from infectious diseases that could be prevented through a vaccine. If they were to receive the help they need, widespread illnesses could become less of a problem and more eradications would hopefully result.
Human beings may think these injections are not monitored or maintained, but numerous organizations have been created to provide safety and watch for problems that may arise from vaccinations. One in particular is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, also known as VAERS. This system regulates any effects that occur from the reports they obtain after a vaccine is administered. This commission also catches signals that may be the start of something new in a sickness or other disease. The World Health Organization keeps track of health around the globe and watches for potential hazards that may arise. Together with the United Nations Children’s Fund, they allowed vaccinations to become worldwide. These systems resulted in laws being put into effect for school environments. This is why we have to receive shots before even starting school.
Questions arise all the time about different situations that individuals think can result as part of getting a vaccination. According to the book Do Vaccines Cause That?!, common questions involve cancer, asthma, seizures, birth defects, and even damage to the immune system. In all cases, the vaccines do not cause any of these problems. It’s the things people do or the reactions to the substance that occur. Some tend to overreact when thinking about getting an immunization. The only major problem that ever occurred with “cancer” was the SV40 virus when the vaccine was first introduced. This resulted in the formation of some tumors, but research never really found any evidence of actual cancer. Asthma has absolutely nothing to deal with the vaccines we receive. This can either be an inherited disorder or caused by the environment. In all of the instances listed, the only real way a reaction could occur is because of the vaccine itself or symptoms in your body. For example, if you’re pregnant, doctors advise which immunizations you can and cannot receive during pregnancy.
Medical technology has ameliorated immensely, changing the ways of health care over the centuries. Countless scientists have created wonderful works that can improve our society for the better. Although some problems occurred, vaccines still resulted in a decrease of illness and disease around the world. Organizations modernized and renovated the ways communities can receive immunizations around the globe. These same systems provide safety and prevent hazardous problems that may occur as a result of a poor vaccination. Studies and clinical trials continue to advance these vaccines for the safety and wellness of other people. If a disease changes or a virus occurs, scientists make sure the immunization is developed enough to defend against the new agent. Individuals may have questions because of other disorders that may seem to cooperate with vaccines, but the vaccines themselves do not cause the disorder. It is the symptoms that occur that spark society’s interest in the ways vaccinations make things worse. Because of these advancements in science, we have a healthier and safer world to live in today. Why not receive a vaccine?
Works Cited
- Greenwood, Brian. “The contribution of vaccination to global health: past, present, and future. ”
- The Royal Society Publishing. The Royal Society, 14 May 2014. Web. 11 November 2018.
- Lombard, Michel F., et al. “A brief history on vaccines and vaccination.” ResearchGate. ResearchGate, 2018. Web. 11 November 2018.
- Myers, M.D., Martin G., and Diego Pineda. Do Vaccines Cause That?! Galveston, Texas: Immunizations for Public Health, 2008. Print.
- Rooney, Anne, and David Anthram. You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without Vaccinations! Great Britain: The Salariya Book Company Ltd, 2015. Print.
- Stern, Alexandra, and Howard Merkel. “The History of Vaccines And Immunization: Familiar Patterns, New Challenges.” Health Affairs. Project Hope, May 2005. Web. 11 November 2018.
