I thought this would be a good opportunity to introduce myself and my real passion: health and medicine. In light of this, using my background I thought I would start a small series exploring controversial medical related topics in the media today and hopefully provide some helpful insight into them.
Starting off with one of the most heavily disputed medical debates in the last decade: IMMUNISATION
How long has vaccination existed?
A lot LONGER than most people realise. The first documented use of immunisation can be traced back to 1000AD – where primitive forms of vaccination where used by communities of people to minimise the small pox endemic. These early forms of the disease involved taking a scabs and material from a patient who had been exposed to the disease (and survived) and then exposing it to another person in the hope that a mild infection would ensue and hence that person could become immune too. The principle behind this will be explained a little bit later.
Fast forward to 1717, where a woman, Lady Montague, brought this simplistic knowledge back from women who she had seen practice this basic folk-medicine in Constantinople. The effects of the power of this medicine can only be truly highlighted through the reduction in small pox death rate from 30% to a mere 2%.
A number of decades later is where the development of modern day vaccines really reaches the spotlight. A physician by the name of Edward Jenner purposely injected a young boy with ‘Cow Pox’, a mild disease in humans, as part of an experiment. The similarities between the ‘Cow Pox’ and ‘Small Pox’ virus meant that the body was able to develop an effective immune response to both of these diseases. This was the initial stepping stone which led to further vaccination development, which led to the complete eradication of ‘Small Pox’ by 1980, which had previously been responsible for killing 500 million people.
Where does this fear of vaccination stem from?
There is a long history of trepidation surrounding the act of vaccination - one that is embellished with misinformation. A painting by John Gillray in 1802 illustrates this point, whereby he depicted people morphing into cow’s and various creatures following inoculation (vaccination) with the ‘Cow Pox’ virus. This is a fear stemming purely from a misunderstanding and fear of the unknown – something which was, and is, foreign to many individuals still today.
Some of the more well justified fears anti-vaccine advocates propose often relate to cases whereby individuals have suffered from adverse reactions as a result of vaccination. On such case is that of David Salamone, a man who contracted polio after a routine immunisation as a child. Nonetheless, there is an explanation for most things in life, and David’s came in the form of a rare genetic predisposition which meant that his body was unable to develop antibodies to the polio virus and hence he contracted it. Yet do NOT fear, modern day applications have been stringently improved since these events took place.
So, what is so new about modern day vaccines?
There are incredibly complex and thorough processes in developing vaccines in the current day and age. Nowadays, attenuated (reduced virulence), dead strains OR even proteins residing on the surface of viruses which allow the immune system to develop a response without the possibility for contracting the virus.
How does vaccination actually prevent me from contracting these diseases?
This is the pièce de résistance. There is a saying that often the simplest solution is the best solution, and vaccination is no exception. Your body hates viruses and diseases and hence it has barriers to it in the form of the largest organ in your body – the SKIN. Except when these innate immune system layers become compromised, the adaptive immune system takes over via specific B and T-cell lymphocytes (white blood cells).
Essentially, the virus OR antigen, is engulfed by phagocytic cells in the body such as dendritic cells. These cells then breakdown the antigen and display viral fragments on specific markers on their surface, known as major histocompatibility class II (MHC II). Näive T-lymphocytes can then come and interact with the fragments via specific-binding sites on their surface, YET only one T-cell will be able to bind via its receptors as it will be specific to that virus. This T-lymphocyte will then proliferate (multiply) due to secretion of molecules known as cytokines which help communicate actions, and eventually leads to activation of multiple specific T-lymphocytes which communicate with naïve B-cells via a form of interaction which generate antibodies to the specific virus. These naïve B-cells become terminally differentiated in plasma cells which produce antibodies which can then travel in circulation. The main role of these antibodies is to neutralize the viral infection, yet they can also undergo a process of opsonisation where they tag the antigens for later destruction by killer T-lymphocytes (CD8 cells) OR non-selectivity by other phagocytic cells.
The purpose of this response is generate an immunological memory of the virus and is essentially what makes vaccines so effective, as the next time the virus appears the response will be much stronger and quicker. This means that the virus does not have enough time to infect the patient and hence its effectives are often never felt, where they could otherwise prove to be debilitating OR even fatal.
Final insights
A true testimony to vaccines can be summed up in a single statistic; that being that 322 million illnesses have been prevented in the last 20 years alone according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccine’s have kept children and adults out of harms way of some of the most horrendous diseases and also helped to eliminate some.
Nonetheless, continued effort has to be made to sustain this protection. Herd immunity is a collective term used to describe a degree of overall vaccination within a collective population and it must be maintained in order to prevent resurgence of disease. People who refuse to vaccinate lower this percentage, and make the entirety of society more vulnerable to infection, especially those bellowing to more vulnerable and less protected tiers of society. Hence, it is a responsibility to ensure that we maintain our herd immunity so that we limit the impact of these diseases, and help protect those who can’t protect themselves.
Please upvote if you found this insightful and stay tuned for more insights into different medical topics 😊
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