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New Generation Vaccines
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2010
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ImmunologyImmunotherapySmallpox VaccinationCross-protectionSabin VaccineVaccine TargetVaccine SurveillanceInfection ControlVaccinologyVaccine SafetyVaccine DevelopmentAllergyNeurovirologyMedicineVaccine TestingVirologySmallpox VesiclesVaccinationNew Generation VaccinesEmerging Infectious DiseasesVaccine DesignPrecision VaccinologyVaccine ResearchEgg-based Vaccine Production
Early vaccine studies Initial vaccine attempts to prevent infectious diseases were in 1000 AD in China, whereby the contents of smallpox vesicles were used to inject healthy individuals who were subsequently protected against smallpox. In the late 1790s, Edward Jenner immunized an 8-year-old boy with cowpox and then challenged him with smallpox; the boy was found to be immunized against smallpox. Thus, cross-reactivity from one species of smallpox to another species of smallpox resulted in protective immunity. During the 19th Century, smallpox vaccination became increasingly popular and eradication was accomplished in the decade of 1967–1977. In the last quarter of the 19th Century, Louis Pasteur noted that by attenuating a pathogen from cholera, it was possible to administer the attenuated strain as a vaccine. The first attenuated bacterial vaccine used in humans in 1884 was against cholera. Although the vaccine was given to approximately 30,000 individuals, most of whom were protected, severe side effects occurred and its use was halted. Pasteur and colleagues also worked with viruses, especially rabies. They noted that if the spinal cords were dried for 2 weeks, they lost their ability to induce rabies. An immunization schedule was set up with 42 dogs and, although the results were extra ordinary, the vaccination procedure was quite controversial in that deaths occurred in some animals. Another approach was to use killed viruses as a vaccine, such as the poliomyelitis vaccine (Salk), which involved treating the virus with formalin. This vaccine had a big impact on the incidence of the disease prior to it being replaced by the live-attenuated version developed by Sabin. The Sabin vaccine was inexpensive and reliable whereas the Salk (dead) vaccine was difficult to produce with inadequate quality. Inactivated (dead) vaccines, which are easy to produce at higher potency, are now available but are impractical at a global scale, even though they may be more effective than live -attenuated vaccines. Measles and poliomyelitis vaccines have now been administered to infants and children as live-attenuated vaccines.