Vaccines are one of mankind’s greatest innovations in biotechnology and have saved millions of lives by protecting us against infectious di...
Vaccines are one of mankind’s greatest innovations in biotechnology and have saved millions of lives by protecting us against infectious diseases. Today, every child on earth can be vaccinated with a series of vaccines that prevent death at an early age. Before vaccines, infant mortality due to infections was extremely common. Vaccines against the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (chicken pox) viruses, as well as against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis among others, are now routinely given to children.
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that is transmitted by airborne droplets. The infection results in a severe rash throughout the body, a telltale sign of the disease. Seven to eight million children died every year of the measles infection until the vaccine was developed in 1963; the number is now down to a few hundred.
We take protection against measles for granted. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it to be next in line to be eradicated from the world, after smallpox and polio. It is rare to see a patient with measles, let alone die of it. It was not so in the past.
The story of vaccines started with an experiment done by Nature and observed by humans. Peter Panum, a Danish...
