Vaccines

We take for granted many things that are common in our reality and daily
lives, but have you ever stopped to think about how things used to be before
certain inventions? Let’s take vaccines, for instance, which I believe are one of
the most important inventions ever created. The world is on high alert right now
concerning the spread of the corona virus, but if vaccines didn’t exist, there
would be dozens of deadlier and more contagious diseases taking the lives of
people in such a way that maybe the corona virus wouldn’t even be noticed
among more serious threats.

There is a long history concerning the invention and development of

vaccines. The first records of a form of inoculation against disease come from
China during the 10th century. This later inspired scientists in Europe during the
18th century, notably Edward Jenner, who studied smallpox and deemed
vaccines to be safe to children and adults. Vaccines then and nowadays work
by introducing dead or inactive organisms (in some cases, byproducts of them)
so that the body can safely create an immunologic response and be protected
from the disease. Louis Pasteur, later in the 1880s, was responsible for
inventing many more important vaccines such as the ones against anthrax and
chicken cholera. The development of more vaccines continued throughout the
20th century as well.

Vaccines led to the eradication of many deadly illnesses, especially the

ones that affected children the most, like polio and smallpox. Other diseases,
like measles, had more than 700,000 cases per year in the USA alone, but after
the introduction of vaccines that number dropped to fewer than 150 cases per
year. Even though some people might develop some reactions after being
vaccinated, they are still of the uttermost importance in order to protect whole
populations against the spread of now preventable viruses and bacteria.

Rayssa França Rodrigues