{"id":14984,"date":"2018-08-07T11:00:47","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T15:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=14984"},"modified":"2018-09-04T12:52:13","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T16:52:13","slug":"edward-jenner-and-the-happy-immunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/08\/07\/edward-jenner-and-the-happy-immunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Edward Jenner and “the happy immunity”"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Aliya Rahman ~
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

August is back-to-school month. While many of us are booking last-minute vacations or scrambling to purchase tickets to that almost-sold-out concert, some of us are headed to the doctor\u2019s office as part of our back-to-school preparations, because August is also National Immunization Awareness Month.<\/p>\n

\"NIAM<\/a>National Immunization Awareness Month is a month-long observance, sponsored by the National Public Health Information Coalition<\/a> (NPHIC), put in place to emphasize the importance of vaccination<\/a> for not only children, but people of all ages. However, this importance is not always recognized.<\/p>\n

Vaccination is a public health practice that has a history of recurring controversy<\/a>, as we can learn from The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The public has often had trouble putting their trust into something as counter intuitive as giving yourself the germs you\u2019re trying to protect yourself from. However, vaccination has been possible for over 200 years, and learning about the history of immunization may enrich our understanding of the benefits of this widespread medical practice.<\/p>\n

There are a variety of resources right here at the National Library of Medicine that provide an abundance of information on the topic of immunization, including books and other materials about the initial discovery of vaccination.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Edward Jenner, 1749-1823
National Library of Medicine #101419674<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Edward Jenner<\/a> (1749\u20131823), an English surgeon and scientist, has been credited with this discovery. By the 18th century, smallpox had already wreaked havoc on mankind for hundreds of years. In 1798, Jenner privately published a book, titled An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae: a disease discovered in some of the western counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and known by the name of the cow pox<\/a><\/em>, in which he documents his groundbreaking discovery concerning cowpox and its relation to smallpox.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
An inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae…,1802
National Library of Medicine <\/em>#2559001R<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his book, Jenner wrote that cowpox is a disease transmitted from horses to cows and \u201cappears on the nipples of cows in the form of irregular pustules.\u201d Eventually, these pustules will degenerate into \u201cphagedenic ulcers.\u201d As a result, milkmaids\u2014due to their proximity to the cows\u2014ended up contracting the illness as well. They suffered from \u201cinflamed spots\u201d on different parts of their hands, which eventually led to tumors in their armpits. Symptoms included shivering, overheating, quickened pulse, vomiting, and pain throughout the limbs. However miserable this may sound, Jenner observed that the contraction of this illness was not so unfortunate after all. These milkmaids, after recovering, developed antibodies that not only made them immune to cowpox, but to smallpox as well. Cowpox is a much milder version of smallpox, and Jenner concluded that to prevent smallpox, one must purposely <\/em>infect themselves with cowpox. Thus, this procedure of immunization through inoculation was introduced and named \u201cvaccination\u201d\u2014derived from the Latin word for cow, \u201cvacca<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1806, a group of physicians in Philadelphia published a pamphlet titled Smallpox destroys, vaccination saves, the lives of thousands<\/a><\/em>, in support of Jenner’s work and the vaccination procedure urging medical establishments and the public to adopt this practice.<\/p>\n

\"Printed <\/a>
Small pox destroys, vaccination saves, the lives of thousands, 1806 NLM #2572002R <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
Small pox destroys, vaccination saves, the lives of thousands, 1806 NLM #2572002R <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

In 1882, Charles A. Lindsley, a professor at Yale, published a paper, Vaccination<\/em><\/a>, because he felt the need to “state, in brief and plain language, what vaccination has done for the human race and how it can be employed most safely and effectively.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a><\/p>\n

“It is one of the recognized duties of the State Board of Health to acquire and diffuse among the people such information concerning the care and protection of their health as will be of practical use to them….There are few, if any, topics, which deal with human life at all approximating to the importance of this, respecting which there is so much misinformation and unfounded prejudice in the public mind.”<\/p>\n

\u2014Dr. Charles A. Lindsley, Vaccination<\/a>, 1882<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dr. Lindsley went on to explain that \u201cno single discovery ever made by man has contributed so much to human longevity\u201d and \u201cthe happy immunity\u201d mankind enjoys \u201cis wholly due to the protective power of vaccination.\u201d Since Jenner\u2019s era, a slew of vaccinations for a variety of different diseases other than smallpox have been introduced, and more are in the process of being developed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But, what is a modern vaccine<\/a>? A vaccine teaches the body\u2019s immune system how to fight an illness so the body never contracts it again. Today, vaccines no longer infect patients with a similar but less lethal disease as they did in the past. Modern vaccines are made from weak or dead germs and are traditionally given by injection. Disease of any kind is prevented because the weakened germs are unable to reproduce and spread throughout the body, while still provoking an immune response from the body. Thus, vaccination, nowadays, poses no risk of infection.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
Vaccinating The Baby, 1890 NLM #101447863 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
Prevention is essential to protect life and there is no substitute for vaccination, and immunization, 1977 Courtesy World Health Organization NLM #101437249 <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
Physician’s assistant receives influenza vaccination, 1977 Courtesy World Health Organization NLM #101447573 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Vaccines play an important role in keeping us healthy, and not only as individuals. When you get vaccinated and develop immunity to certain, sometimes deadly, diseases, the entire population benefits from it. Germs have difficulty spreading when the majority of the population is immune and eventually, the disease may disappear altogether. This concept is called \u201cherd immunity<\/a>.\u201d Consequently, opting to not <\/em>get vaccinated puts those around you at risk. Germs can travel fast and if enough people are infected, an outbreak can occur<\/a>\u2014endangering everyone. Protect yourself, your loved ones, and the world. Embrace the message of National Immunization Awareness Month: get vaccinated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NLM and NIH have educational resources available online if you would like to learn more:<\/p>\n