21+ Facts About Vaccines That We All Must Know

Vaccines are essential medicines that are made up of dead or weakened viruses, which provide immunity against various kinds of infectious diseases.

Some infectious diseases controlled by vaccines include tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, influenza, and measles. The vaccines can boost the immune system of a person to fight these diseases and other foreign bodies.

There are specific vaccines for target diseases. Clinical trials are carried out before giving vaccines to the public. It does not provide protection against mild illnesses like the common cold. Some vaccinations have one injection, while others can have more.

Vaccines have been scheduled and recommended according to the age of an individual. Most individuals' vaccination is done in early childhood. Childhood vaccines are effective in the long term and protect children from fatal diseases. Some vaccines may have short-term side effects, and allergic reactions like fever, headache, muscle pain, chills, or pain at the injection site.

Vaccines contain inactive, dead, or weakened viruses or pathogens of the target disease. These pathogens are harmless. When these pathogens are introduced into your body, your immune system recognizes them as foreign bodies and makes antibodies to fight these pathogens, and remembers them. So when you are infected by the same pathogen in the future, your body will protect you with the help of the same antibodies and prevent it from harming you. You will be completely immune to its effect and harm.

The vaccines are mandatory not only for the individual but also for the community as they prevent the spread of various deadly diseases. It is also called herd immunity. It helps in disease control, like in measles outbreaks and smallpox outbreaks. Fully vaccinated people are immune to various life-threatening diseases. All the vaccine information is provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the advisory committee. The latest vaccine to be developed is to prevent COVID-19.

Vaccines protect and build immunity against serious illnesses. Immunization practices have been carried out for a long time. Several vaccines have been developed to date. The timeline of some important vaccines is as follows.

In 1798, Edward Jenner was the first one to develop a vaccine to fight smallpox.

In 1880, Louis Pasteur developed the vaccine for cholera.

In 1885, Louis Pasteur, along with Emile Roux, developed the vaccine to fight rabies.

In 1890, Emil Behring developed the vaccine to fight tetanus.

In 1896, Almroth E Wright, Wilhelm Kolle, and Richard Pfeiffer developed the vaccine to fight typhoid fever.

In 1921, Albert Calmette developed the vaccine for tuberculosis.

In 1923, Emil Behring, Gaston Ramon, and Kitasato Shibasaburo developed the vaccine to fight diphtheria.

In 1924, Gladys Dick and George F. Dick developed the vaccine to fight scarlet fever.

In 1924, C. Zoeller, Gaston Raon, and P. Descombey developed the first inactive vaccine for tetanus.

In 1926, Leila Denmark developed the vaccine for whooping cough.

In 1932, Max Theiler and Jean Laigret developed the vaccine for yellow fever.

In 1937, Rudolf Weigl, Hans Zinsser, and Ludwik Fleck developed the vaccine for typhus.

In 1937, Anatol Smorodintsev developed the vaccine for influenza.

In 1941, a vaccine for tick-borne encephalitis was first developed.

In 1952, a vaccine for polio was first developed.

In 1954, a vaccine for Japanese encephalitis was first developed.

In 1954, a vaccine for anthrax was first developed.

In 1957, a vaccine for adenovirus four and adenovirus seven was first developed.

In 1963, the measles vaccine was developed.

In 1967, the mumps vaccine was developed.

In 1970, the rubella vaccine was developed.

In 1977, the pneumonia vaccine was developed.

In 1978, the meningitis vaccine was developed.

In 1981, the hepatitis B vaccine was developed.

In 1984, the chickenpox vaccine was developed.

In 1985, the Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine was developed.

In 1989, the Q fever vaccine was developed.

In 1990, the Hantavirus hemorrhagic fever vaccine was developed.

In 1991, the hepatitis A vaccine was developed.

In 1998, the Lyme disease vaccine was developed.

In 1998, the rotavirus vaccine was developed.

In 2000, the conjugate vaccine for pneumococcal infection was developed.

In 2003, the nasal influenza vaccine was developed.

In 2003, the Argentine hemorrhagic fever vaccine was developed.

In 2006, the human papillomavirus vaccine was developed.

In 2006, the herpes zoster vaccine was developed.

In 2012, the hepatitis E vaccine was developed.

In 2013, the enterovirus 21 vaccine was developed.

In 2015, the malaria vaccine was developed.

In 2015, the dengue fever vaccine was developed.

In 2019, the Ebola virus vaccine was first approved.

In 2020, the COVID-19 vaccine was developed.

Attenuated vaccine

This type of vaccine contains the virus or bacteria whose severity or virulence is reduced. Some examples include vaccines for German measles, mumps, rubella, cowpox, yellow fever, influenza, polio, tuberculosis, BCG, and typhoid.

Inactivated vaccine

The inactivated vaccine consists of inactivated or dead bacteria or viruses. These viruses, bacteria, or pathogens are grown in culture and then destroyed. It helps to build an immune response against the pathogen for the future. It is also known as a killed vaccine. Some examples are Inactivated Poliovirus vaccine, Cell Pertussis vaccine for whooping cough, rabies vaccine, hepatitis vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine, and other vaccines.

Toxoid vaccine

The toxoid virus develops the immune system against a specific toxin rather than a whole virus, bacteria, or pathogen. It protects against diseases like tetanus and diphtheria.

Subunit vaccine

The subunit vaccine contains purified or protein parts of the virus, bacteria, or pathogen to develop immunity against it. Examples include the hepatitis B vaccine and the Acellular Pertussis vaccine.

Conjugate vaccine

The conjugate vaccine is a type of subunit vaccine. It consists of weak as well as strong antigens. Its goal is to develop stronger immunity against the weak antigen. Examples include the Haemophilus Influenza vaccine and the Pneumoccocal Conjugate vaccine.

Genetic vaccine (MMR vaccine and mRNA vaccine)

It includes engineered DNA of pathogens to build immunity against it. Some diseases it protects against are measles, mumps, rubella, influenza virus, and polio. It is categorized as the DNA vaccine and the mRNA vaccine.

Heterotypic vaccine

It is also known as the Jennarian vaccine. It consists of a pathogen that does not cause any disease or cause mild infection only. Examples of heterotypic vaccines include BCG and the smallpox vaccine.

Experimental vaccine

Experimental vaccines are those that are still being tested to be used. They are developed using different methods and techniques.

Outer membrane vesicle

It contains bacteria that can work as vaccines. They are naturally immunogenic and have the capability of making more vaccines.

Some interesting facts about vaccines are mentioned below.

Vaccines build immunity, they do not work as medicines.

With the help of vaccines, approximately 2.5 million deaths are prevented every year with good immunization rates.

You might have seen people getting their vaccination through shots like flu shots. Most vaccines are in the form of shots. But some vaccines like polio are given orally.

The first person to vaccinate was Edward Jenner in 1796. It was for cowpox.

The first vaccine to be manufactured in a laboratory was produced in 1879. It was made for chickens.

Vaccination has completely eradicated smallpox. Its last case was recorded in 1997.

Vaccination does not have an active virus.

The first vaccination a human being gets is when they are eight weeks old.

Animals and birds also get a vaccination. It helps them fight several diseases and prevent them from spreading.

While traveling abroad, you need to get vaccinated for diseases such as yellow fever, typhoid, hepatitis, and many others.