EDWARD JENNER & THE FIRST SMALLPOX INOCULATION

Today, the whole world is under vaccination against COVID-19 and The Grandma wants to talk about another disease that was very important in the past and caused thousands of deaths, the smallpox. On a day like today in 1796, Edward Jenner,  the English physician and scientist, administered the first smallpox inoculation.

Edward Jenner (17 May 1749-26 January 1823) was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines including creating the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine.

The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from Variolae vaccinae, smallpox of the cow, the term devised by Jenner to denote cowpox. He used it in 1798 in the long title of his Inquiry into the Variolae vaccinae known as the Cow Pox, in which he described the protective effect of cowpox against smallpox.

In the West, Jenner is often called the father of immunology, and his work is said to have saved more lives than the work of any other human. In Jenner's time, smallpox killed around 10% of the population, with the number as high as 20% in towns and cities where infection spread more easily.

In 1821, he was appointed physician extraordinary to King George IV, and was also made mayor of Berkeley and justice of the peace. A member of the Royal Society, in the field of zoology he was the first person to describe the brood parasitism of the cuckoo.

In 2002, Jenner was named in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons. 

In 1980, the World Health Organization declared smallpox an eradicated disease. This was the result of coordinated public health efforts, but vaccination was an essential component. Although the disease was declared eradicated, some pus samples still remain in laboratories in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in the US, and in State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR in Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia.

More information: US National Library of Medicine

Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by one of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor.

The agent of variola virus (VARV) belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980. The risk of death after contracting the disease was about 30%, with higher rates among babies. Often those who survived had extensive scarring of their skin, and some were left blind.

The initial symptoms of the disease included fever and vomiting. This was followed by formation of ulcers in the mouth and a skin rash. Over a number of days the skin rash turned into characteristic fluid-filled blisters with a dent in the centre. The bumps then scabbed over and fell off, leaving scars. The disease was spread between people or via contaminated objects. Prevention was achieved mainly through the smallpox vaccine. Once the disease had developed, certain antiviral medication may have helped.

The origin of smallpox is unknown; however, the earliest evidence of the disease dates to the 3rd century BCE in Egyptian mummies. The disease historically occurred in outbreaks.

In 18th-century Europe, it is estimated that 400,000 people died from the disease per year, and that one-third of all cases of blindness were due to smallpox.  

Smallpox is estimated to have killed up to 300 million people in the 20th century and around 500 million people in the last 100 years of its existence, including six monarchs. As recently as 1967, 15 million cases occurred a year.

Inoculation for smallpox appears to have started in China around the 1500s. Europe adopted this practice from Asia in the first half of the 18th century.

In 1796 Edward Jenner introduced the modern smallpox vaccine.

In 1967, the WHO intensified efforts to eliminate the disease. Smallpox is one of two infectious diseases to have been eradicated, the other being rinderpest in 2011. The term smallpox was first used in Britain in the early 16th century to distinguish the disease from syphilis, which was then known as the great pox. Other historical names for the disease include pox, speckled monster, and red plague.

More information: Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention

 I hope that some day the practice of producing
cowpox in human beings will spread over the world
-when that day comes, there will be no more smallpox.

Edward Jenner

LOUIS PASTEUR, GREAT VACCINES & PASTEURIZATION

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of one of her closest friends, Joseph de Ca'th Lon.

 

Joseph loves History, Anthropology, Astronomy and Science and they have been talking about Louis Pasteur, the French scientist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization who was born on a day like today in 1822.

Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822-September 28, 1895) was a French biologist, microbiologist, and chemist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization.

He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of diseases, and his discoveries have saved many lives ever since. He reduced mortality from puerperal fever and created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax.

His medical discoveries provided direct support for the germ theory of disease and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization.

He is regarded as one of the three main founders of bacteriology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch, and has been called a father of bacteriology and the father of microbiology, though the latter appelation has also been applied to Antonie van Leeuwenhoek.

Pasteur was responsible for disproving the doctrine of spontaneous generation. He performed experiments that showed that, without contamination, microorganisms could not develop. Under the auspices of the French Academy of Sciences, he demonstrated that in sterilized and sealed flasks, nothing ever developed; and, conversely, in sterilized but open flasks, microorganisms could grow. Although Pasteur was not the first to propose the germ theory, his experiments indicated its correctness and convinced most of Europe that it was true.

More information: Institut Pasteur

Today, he is often regarded as one of the fathers of germ theory. Pasteur made significant discoveries in chemistry, most notably on the molecular basis for the asymmetry of certain crystals and racemization. Early in his career, his investigation of tartaric acid resulted in the first resolution of what is now called optical isomers. His work led the way to the current understanding of a fundamental principle in the structure of organic compounds.

He was the director of the Pasteur Institute, established in 1887, until his death, and his body was interred in a vault beneath the institute. Although Pasteur made groundbreaking experiments, his reputation became associated with various controversies. Historical reassessment of his notebook revealed that he practiced deception to overcome his rivals.

Louis Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822, in Dole, Jura, France, to a Catholic family of a poor tanner. He was the third child of Jean-Joseph Pasteur and Jeanne-Etiennette Roqui. The family moved to Marnoz in 1826 and then to Arbois in 1827.

Pasteur was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg in 1848, and became the chair of chemistry in 1852. In 1854, he was named dean of the new faculty of sciences at University of Lille, where he began his studies on fermentation. It was on this occasion that Pasteur uttered his oft-quoted remark: dans les champs de l'observation, le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés.

Scientists before Pasteur had studied fermentation. In the 1830s, Charles Cagniard-Latour, Friedrich Traugott Kützing and Theodor Schwann used microscopes to study yeasts and concluded that yeasts were living organisms.

 

In 1839, Justus von Liebig, Friedrich Wöhler and Jöns Jacob Berzelius stated that yeast was not an organism and was produced when air acted on plant juice.

In 1855, Antoine Béchamp, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Montpellier, conducted experiments with sucrose solutions and concluded that water was the factor for fermentation. He changed his conclusion in 1858, stating that fermentation was directly related to the growth of moulds, which required air for growth. He regarded himself as the first to show the role of microorganisms in fermentation.

Pasteur started his experiments in 1857 and published his findings in 1858 (April issue of Comptes Rendus Chimie, Béchamp's paper appeared in January issue). Béchamp noted that Pasteur did not bring any novel idea or experiments. On the other hand, Béchamp was probably aware of Pasteur's 1857 preliminary works. With both scientists claiming priority on the discovery, a dispute, extending to several areas, lasted throughout their lives.

However, Béchamp was on the losing side, as the BMJ obituary remarked: His name was associated with bygone controversies as to priority which it would be unprofitable to recall. Béchamp proposed the incorrect theory of microzymes. According to K. L. Manchester, anti-vivisectionists and proponents of alternative medicine promoted Béchamp and microzymes, unjustifiably claiming that Pasteur plagiarized Béchamp.

More information: Louis Pasteur

Pasteur thought that succinic acid inverted sucrose. In 1860, Marcellin Berthelot isolated invertase and showed that succinic acid did not invert sucrose. Pasteur believed that fermentation was only due to living cells. Hans Buchner discovered that zymase catalyzed fermentation, showing that fermentation was catalyzed by enzymes within cells. Eduard Buchner also discovered that fermentation could take place outside living cells.

Pasteur publicly claimed his success in developing the anthrax vaccine in 1881. However, his admirer-turned-rival Toussaint was the one who developed the first vaccine. Toussaint isolated the bacteria that caused chicken cholera, later named Pasteurella in honour of Pasteur, in 1879 and gave samples to Pasteur who used them for his own works.

On July 12, 1880, Toussaint presented his successful result to the French Academy of Sciences, using an attenuated vaccine against anthrax in dogs and sheep.

Pasteur on grounds of jealousy contested the discovery by publicly displaying his vaccination method at Pouilly-le-Fort on May 5, 1881.

Pasteur gave a misleading account of the preparation of the anthrax vaccine used in the experiment at Pouilly-le-Fort. He used potassium dichromate to prepare the vaccine. The promotional experiment was a success and helped Pasteur sell his products, getting the benefits and glory.

In 1868, Pasteur suffered a severe brain stroke that paralysed the left side of his body, but he recovered.  A stroke or uremia in 1894 severely impaired his health. Failing to fully recover, he died on September 28, 1895, near Paris. He was given a state funeral and was buried in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, but his remains were reinterred in the Pasteur Institute in Paris, in a vault covered in depictions of his accomplishments in Byzantine mosaics.

More information: OMG Facts

Science knows no country,
because knowledge belongs to humanity,
and is the torch which illuminates the world.

Louis Pasteur