Living in a Vaccination World
These great people are credited with developing them and a few significant events in the medical world.
Edward Jenner(Smallpox): The world’s first vaccine. He used cowpox virus as the starting point for the smallpox vaccine, which was fine-tuned by the 19th century. The Terms ‘vaccine’ and ‘vaccination’ are derived from Variolae vaccinae- the terms used by Jenner to denote cowpox. He is called the ‘Father of immunology’ and his work is said to have saved more lives than the work any other human.
Ignaz Semmelweis (Hand Washing): An early pioneer of antiseptic procedures, made big waves in the medical community when he suggested that doctors might actually be ‘giving’ patients infections with their dirty hands. A large portion of the medical profession, were insulted by the theory, accused Semmelweis of slander and mental illness. His theory would go on to save untold millions of lives. He is popularly described as ‘Saviour of Mothers’.
Jonas Salk (Polio-Injection): Successfully developed his inactive vaccine for polio in 1955, which came in injection form. The first demonstration of the vaccine was run in 1950. This great soul was offered billions of dollars to patent his discovery, which he flatly refused, saying “Would you patent sunlight and air?” He continued virology research throughout his life, working on the cure for AIDS upon his death in 1995. However, Albert Sabin’s development of an oral form of polio vaccine is considered most effective.
Louis Pasteur (Rabies): Hehelped to pioneer the first vaccine for rabies in 1885. The treatment was given in stages, with multiple injections over time. Eventually, a better vaccine was developed in 1908, which did not require multiple treatment. Pasteur, earlier in his life, worked as a chemist, became interested in the chemical properties of living things which led to the study of micro-organisms. Through experimentation he proved that organisms causing food & milk to spoil came from the air, and later developed a process to eliminate these organisms using heat. This became known as ‘pasteurization’.
John Franklin Enders & Thomas Peebles(Measles): Both made vital contributions to the successful development of the measles vaccine. In 1954, Enders was awarded the Noble Prize for Medicine. In 1971, Maurice Hilleman developed the MMR vaccine, which vaccinated patients against measles, mumps & rubella all in the same vaccine.
Alexander Fleming (Penicillin): was best known for discovering the world’s first broadly effective antibiotic substance which he named Penicillin. He shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine with Howard Florey & Ernst Chain who actually went on to discover its therapeutic actions & chemical composition.
Rene Laennec(Stethoscope): In 1816 Dr Laennec felt embarrassed if he had to listen to the heartbeat of a young female patient by placing his ear directly on her chest. He rolled up 24 sheets of paper to make a tube and placed one end on her chest and other end in his ear. He discovered that the sounds from the heartbeat were loud and clear. Subsequently, a small bell-shaped instrument with two flexible tubes that fit into each ear was developed.
Selman Waksman(Tuberculosis): A biochemist and microbiologist whose research into decomposition of organisms that live in the soil led to the discovery of streptomycin and other antibiotics. Streptomycin is on the list of WHO’s list of essential medicines.
Marion Donovan(Disposable Diapers): She first invented it with a cloth covered with shower curtain material and then replaced the cloth diaper with the absorbent materials and added a plastic cover. She was granted four patents but unable to sell her idea to any manufacturing company, so she started her own business. After two years her company and patents were sold to Keko Corporation for US$ 1 million. Donovan was granted 20 patents, some of them include: facial tissue box, storage container box, towel dispenser, dental flossing products etc.
Honorable Mentions:
The first effective treatment for Malaria was developed by Peruvian Indians way back in 1640s. However, Europeans were skeptical of the drug, made from the bark of the cinchona tree.
The world’s oldest medical text is about 4000 years old. The Nei Ching or ‘The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine’, is in the form of dialogues between Chinese emperor Huang Ti and his chief physician
Dentist Horace Wells was the first to successfully use Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) as an anesthesia to extract teeth.
An Egyptian papyrus dating to about 2000 BC gives the ingredients: honey, soda and crocodile dung. It is the earliest known ‘contraceptive’. There is no mention of well it worked.
When Christopher Columbus returned to Europe in 1493, he bought with him a deadly variety of Syphilis. It caused the Barcelona Epidemic of 1493. Not one of his more noteworthy achievements.
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