Immunizations—a history
lesson (October 2013)
When did
immunizations (vaccinations) come about?
Here’s a small history lesson for us.
According to The Little Book of
Medical Breakthroughs, a chemist named Louis Pasteur gets credit for
immunizations. Pasteur recognized that
something (he thought maybe germs) caused beer and wine to ferment. In 1879 this was radical thinking. He began to identify germs (microorganisms)
and what illness different germs caused.
Pasteur injected
chickens with old, weakened cholera germs.
When the chickens survived, he injected the same chickens (and a second
group of chickens which had not been vaccinated) with a new strong batch of
cholera germs. The vaccinated chickens
did not get sick while the second group (not vaccinated) became ill.
Pasteur continued
experimenting with vaccines and expanded his work to include anthrax and
rabies. The first rabies vaccine was
used on people in 1885. We have Louis
Pasteur to thank for the concept of vaccines (immunizations). Immunizations
save lives
Pasteur discovered
how to weaken germs and make a safe vaccine over a century ago. Since then, many lives have been saved
because of the immunizations.
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