THE HISTORY OF IMMUNISATION  

Small Pox beginnings

In the Mid 1700's, English Aristocrat and writer, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu  visited the Ottoman Empire and  brought back to England, a technique she had observed of pricking small pox blisters and scratching the skin of a healthy person and wiping the fluid on an open wound. The technique was called variolation - Mostly , they got a mild form of the disease. Unfortunately some got more than that.Lady Mary's brother died from the practice.

In 1776 - Edward Jenner observed that milk maids who had had cow pox were immune against small pox  and intentionally infected a young boy with cow pox then injected small pox pus under his skin he did not get small pox. Variola vaccinae was the disease known as cow pox ( vacca - cow in latin)

The word vaccination is derived from Jenner's intentional infection with cow pox.

On  8th May 1980 - some 200 years later the world was declared Small Pox free.  The Chair of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradicationwas Australian, Frank Fenner . He made the announcement to the World Health Asembly It remains their greatest achievement. 

How immunisation works -

When the body is exposed to a disease causing microorganism the initial reaction is illness. The immune system also reacts and produces antibodies to fight the infection. A blue print is often left stored away in the immune system so that if the same organism is encountered again the body recognises it and can quickly mass produce antibodies to kill it before it can cause disease again.

There are two types of immunsiation

1.      Active immunisation - Infective organisms contain protein material call antigens - it is thse antigens that stimulate a response from the immune system. Active immunisation is where a person is exposed to small amount of material from the infective organisism and the immune system makes antibodies . The material may be in the form of

a)      live atttenuated oganism

b)      dead organism

c)      protein matter only

d)      toxoid  

this type of vaccination gives long term immunity to the organisms that it is specific for. However the immunity can wear off over time, so re immunisation may be necesary. Or as is the case with FLU the organism may change and not recognised by the immune system advanced guard.

2.      Passive immunisation  - this is where the person acquires existing antibodies from an already immune person. Eg injection of Hep A IgG or trnasfer of ab in breast milk . This type of immunisation is only  temporary.

 Immunisation is most frequently in the form of an injection so that the body can mount a whole body response however for some diseases like Cholera immunisation is gained through the oral route. This is because the gastrointestinal tract can mount a front line guard against the disease. Oral Polio ( sabin) vaccine was popular for many years for these reasons but it has been surpassed by a newer injectable form..

Examples of diseases for which immunisation  :

  1. Small pox                           2. Rabies                                           3.Tetanus

  4. Diphtheria                          5. Whooping cough                            6. Measles

  7. Mumps                              8. Rubella                                          9. H. Influenzae

10. Polio                                11. Meningococcal Meningitis            12. Yellow fever

13. Chicken pox                    14.Tuberculosis                                 15. Hepatitis A

16. Hepatitis B                       17. Influenza                                      18 S. Pneumoniae

20. Rotavirus                         21. Human Papilloma Virus               22. Cholera

23. Typhoid                            24 Tuberculosis

dates  vaccines introduced :

1798   Smallpox

1885   Rabies

1897   Plague

1923   Diphtheria

1926   Pertussis

1927   Tuberculosis (BCG)

1927   Tetanus

1935    Yellow Fever

After World War II

1955   Injectable Polio Vaccine (IPV)

1962   Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV)

1964   Measles

1967   Mumps

1970   Rubella

1981      Hepatitis B

in the last 30 years -

Influenza, Pneumoccocus, HIB ,Hepatitis A, Meningococcus, Yellow fever, Cholera, Typhoid , Chicken Pox, Q Fever  , Rotavirus, Human Papilloma Virus

IMMUNUSATION IN AUSTRALIA

Australia began routine immunisation of infants in the 1950s and has grown to be a major public preventative medicine program funded by state and federal governments ,

Those who choose not to immunise their children put their own children and  the rest of the community at risk

While there may be small risks associated with immunisation there is no doubt that there is more risk  associated with not  immunising a healthy child

click here for an excellent article from the  Medical Journal of Australia Refusal of parents to vaccinate: dereliction of duty or legitimate personal choice?