Immunization (Vaccines)
- Year(s) Officially Discovered: 10th Century, 1880-1885, 1922, 1933, 1952, 2006
- Discovery Put Into Action: Immediately Upon Discovery
- Team/Person Behind The Discovery: Louis Pasteur, Jonas Salk, Albert Calmette, Camille Guerin, Edward Jenner, David Smith, Ian Frazier
Immunization concepts date back thousands of years. Ancient cultures used to isolate men, women, and children that were sick from other people. They might be visited by doctors/medicine men, or they might not. Once people died from something, they were often burned in hopes they would not spread disease. People would burn some entire villages down. That was until the Ancient Chinese would form ways to help in the 10 Century regarding Smallpox. Yet, a smallpox vaccine would not come into play until 1976 due to Edward Jenner. Louis Pasteur developed a vaccine for Cholera in 1880, Anthrax in 1881, and Rabies in 1885.
Meanwhile, Albert Calmette & Camille Green discovered a way to cure Tuberculosis by developing a vaccine with the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Vaccine in 1922. Calmette discovered on his own a way to treat snakebites, developing the first anti-venom. Jonas Salk, together with Thomas Francis, were both able to discover a way to limit the spreading of Influenza in 1933. Salk then developed a vaccine for Polio, essentially eradicating the disease in 1952. David Smith then made a vaccine for Haemophilus influenza, which often gave infants pneumonia and meningitis. Finally, Ian Frazier discovered ways to make vaccines for cervical cancer, genital warts, and anogenital cancers in 2006.