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Many years ago (mid-1960's) I worked on what has been described as the only really successful vaccine that literally eradicated one very dangerous disease - smallpox. Here is one link to some of our successes: Disease Eradication — History of Vaccines. However; it is uncommon for our pharmaceutical companies to actually eliminate any disease so that we never have to worry about it again.
I think what disturbs me the most is that we did not have the tools then (computers and data libraries) as we do now. Medications are very big business and I have to wonder if the incentives are present to put these companies out of business? It cost a fortune and years to develop any vaccine; so it is understandable that companies think about profits. There are also good reasons that some diseases are harder to control than others. Plus globalization is introducing new diseases quicker than we can 'solve' the old diseases.
I am pretty sure that we could not make smallpox vaccinations like we did years ago because of P.E.T.A. issues and using live cows as a base component of the vaccine. Possibly, if ever faced with a resurgence of the disease; we would find another way to manufacture it?
I am pretty sure that we could not make smallpox vaccinations like we did years ago because of P.E.T.A. issues and using live cows as a base component of the vaccine. Possibly, if ever faced with a resurgence of the disease; we would find another way to manufacture it?
The smallpox vaccine was tested on children in 1796, and to see if it worked, Dr. Jenner actually infected a few kids with smallpox! Nope, that wouldn't happen today!
And if there ever was a resurgence (the Russians are said to have smallpox stored, and maybe the US does, too---), smallpox spreads fast, no time for developing a new drug! They would use the old vaccine. Why? Smallpox has a 30% fatality rate. And another 30% have permanent, disfiguring scars. I clearly remember seeing adults with these old scars when I was growing up.
Poor health and disease is a HUGE business. Imagine cures and so many out of work. Talking to a friend yesterday and she is deals with OA and she's 10 yrs younger than me, I've dealt with OA for over 60 yrs...she keeps waiting for a CURE/MIRACLE. I told her not to hold her breath but in the meantime to do all she can to control/manage the OA in her body. I sent her some info today and mentioned the CURE issue.
The closest thing for me re: eradication is getting rid of a lifetime of allergy/sinus issues after 1995 and grape seed extract. I have not bought or taken a drug for these issues in almost 21 yrs.
The smallpox vaccine was tested on children in 1796, and to see if it worked, Dr. Jenner actually infected a few kids with smallpox! Nope, that wouldn't happen today!
And if there ever was a resurgence (the Russians are said to have smallpox stored, and maybe the US does, too---), smallpox spreads fast, no time for developing a new drug! They would use the old vaccine. Why? Smallpox has a 30% fatality rate. And another 30% have permanent, disfiguring scars. I clearly remember seeing adults with these old scars when I was growing up.
In the 1990's the military took some of the old vaccines that I had worked on in the 1960's. They came into the company (that was purchased by another company) and quickly took all of the vaccine out of cryogenic storage. They also found some of the vaccine in Canada. Where it ended up is a mystery.
I had one of those large vaccinations. It is pretty much gone now. However I still have two small pockets from old plague vaccinations.
In the 1990's the military took some of the old vaccines that I had worked on in the 1960's. They came into the company (that was purchased by another company) and quickly took all of the vaccine out of cryogenic storage. They also found some of the vaccine in Canada. Where it ended up is a mystery.
I had one of those large vaccinations. It is pretty much gone now. However I still have two small pockets from old plague vaccinations.
That's kind of scary. As a kid I got the smallpox vaccination, of course and the first time I traveled abroad I asked for, and got it, again. That's one despicable killer (you literally bleed to death through your skin and even if you do survive, you are permanently disfigured) disease and no one should ever have to contract it. But to think that there would be no vaccine available?
I wonder where the vaccine went? Maybe the government has it hidden away somewhere. Maybe there's just enough for high government officials and military officials. We'd better keep hoping smallpox doesn't make a surprise appearance.
Eradication of polio is within reach. It could happen within a space of a few years except for ignorant opposition to the vaccine in the outback of two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In order for any disease to be eradicated, humans have to be an obligatory part of the life cycle of the organism causing the disease.
Measles, mumps, and rubella are potentially eradicable. A major roadblock there is the objection to vaccination in recent years due to Andrew Wakefield's scam. In the future hepatitis B might also be on the eradicable list.
There are other diseases being worked on that are relevant worldwide but not of concern much in the US, such as Guinea worm, a focus of the Carter Center.
There is no barrier to making the smallpox vaccine. It does not actually use smallpox virus but a much weaker virus, vaccinia. The US has enough vaccine for everyone in the country to get it if there were an attempt by terrorists to use it as a biological weapon. Small stocks of actual smallpox virus are still kept in the US and Russia for research purposes.
I really do not want to be a "Debby Downer"..but diseases will never be eradicated completely ..due to ability for mutations by disease/virus' to adapt to environment.
As a small child I grew up during the huge efforts to eradicate "Polio" and apparently WHA (World Health Organization) is still working on it today. I recall back as a little child ( mother trained and at Toronto's "Sick Children's") during the height of this epidemic ('30's)
I recall taking the "Sabin Vaccine" and oral ( pink) dose that only needed one dose back then..Yeah!!!! No needles
WE just have to accept that bacteria/virus's out there will mutate..and will continue to cause disease. Those who work tirelessly to come up with immunity vaccines that allow our body's to gain antibodies will be endless.
Flu Virus is so variable alone..the list is so long it's impossible for vaccine makers to predict just which one's will be prevalent the following fall post past "Flu Season" Yet with anti-Vaccine folks , who incidentally have an agenda..somehow blankety say they are useless..Why..Because some still die from the flu and some who get the flu shot..still get sick. These folks prey on the ignorance of people who have no idea of just how vaccines work..Like any ability to build antibodies..it takes time..however..IF already exposed to germ..even if got shot shortly before it cannot eliminate all Symptoms....BUT will still lessen them!
I will also strongly suggest, that no matter what the disease is whether by virus or Bacteria..that utilizing whatever vaccines available is far better than allowing yourself to try and deal with them when your immune system isn't prepared to fight it thru antibody build.
Unfortunately..after getting flu shot for over 30 years..I became allergic to the preservative ..so had to stop..BUT it certainly didn't alter my belief in it's benefits. This also explains why say children with auto-immune disease/suppressed are so at risk when exposed to those NOT immunized
Sorry..I got rather long winded ..BUT I really hope and wish folks would take the time to understand just how Vaccines work and why they are so invaluable for us!!
This is such an interesting topic! A lot of good information.
I hadn't even considered biological warfare but yeeeeek, that could be disastrous. But in that case, I think I'd be most concerned about the really dangerous diseases like smallpox and polio, to name two. Chicken pox or mumps and measles, not very much. Yes, it's no fun to get sick but those illnesses aren't nearly as serious and devastating as some others.
SuzyQ, thanks for that info about making the smallpox vaccine if we had to. For some reason that disease has always terrified me, just the thought of it. Maybe it was from my mother telling me about it when I was a little kid getting vaccinated for it. We are so lucky to have vaccines available and to not have to live in constant fear.
Now if the other countries would get on with the polio vaccine, that would be a vast improvement too. I know there is a lot of work being done in Africa.
That's kind of scary. As a kid I got the smallpox vaccination, of course and the first time I traveled abroad I asked for, and got it, again. That's one despicable killer (you literally bleed to death through your skin and even if you do survive, you are permanently disfigured) disease and no one should ever have to contract it. But to think that there would be no vaccine available?
I wonder where the vaccine went? Maybe the government has it hidden away somewhere. Maybe there's just enough for high government officials and military officials. We'd better keep hoping smallpox doesn't make a surprise appearance.
The company I worked for, when we made the vaccine back in the 1960's, was called 'National Drug'. The company that had the old vaccine stored in the 1990's was called Connaught Laboratories. And, yes, I always wondered where the vaccine went.
I have actually worked three different times (years apart) for pharmaceutical companies. I have worked on vaccines for smallpox, to tetanus, to diphtheria, to gas gangrene (which you don't hear of today), to meningitis, to flu.
I do thank everybody for their responses. I just wish that we had more success stories about eradication; instead of stories of new disease. It sometimes looks like we are loosing more ground than we are gaining.
I really do not want to be a "Debby Downer"..but diseases will never be eradicated completely ..due to ability for mutations by disease/virus' to adapt to environment.
As a small child I grew up during the huge efforts to eradicate "Polio" and apparently WHA (World Health Organization) is still working on it today. I recall back as a little child ( mother trained and at Toronto's "Sick Children's") during the height of this epidemic ('30's)
I recall taking the "Sabin Vaccine" and oral ( pink) dose that only needed one dose back then..Yeah!!!! No needles
WE just have to accept that bacteria/virus's out there will mutate..and will continue to cause disease. Those who work tirelessly to come up with immunity vaccines that allow our body's to gain antibodies will be endless.
Flu Virus is so variable alone..the list is so long it's impossible for vaccine makers to predict just which one's will be prevalent the following fall post past "Flu Season" Yet with anti-Vaccine folks , who incidentally have an agenda..somehow blankety say they are useless..Why..Because some still die from the flu and some who get the flu shot..still get sick. These folks prey on the ignorance of people who have no idea of just how vaccines work..Like any ability to build antibodies..it takes time..however..IF already exposed to germ..even if got shot shortly before it cannot eliminate all Symptoms....BUT will still lessen them!
I will also strongly suggest, that no matter what the disease is whether by virus or Bacteria..that utilizing whatever vaccines available is far better than allowing yourself to try and deal with them when your immune system isn't prepared to fight it thru antibody build.
Unfortunately..after getting flu shot for over 30 years..I became allergic to the preservative ..so had to stop..BUT it certainly didn't alter my belief in it's benefits. This also explains why say children with auto-immune disease/suppressed are so at risk when exposed to those NOT immunized
Sorry..I got rather long winded ..BUT I really hope and wish folks would take the time to understand just how Vaccines work and why they are so invaluable for us!!
The two countries that still have polio do so because religious fanatics are interfering with vaccine programs. They have even killed health care workers. If they would allow the vaccination teams to do their jobs, polio could be rather quickly eradicated. It's not that the vaccine is not available. The oral Sabin vaccine is not used in the US any more because there is a tiny risk of getting paralytic polio from the live virus in the vaccine. The oral vaccine is still used in countries where the wild virus may be circulating because it is more effective, but WHO is in the process of phasing it out altogether.
Mutations can be dealt with. Even with a virus like flu that mutates so quickly we have vaccines that work in most flu seasons, the biggest obstacle being choosing the right strains to use in the vaccine. If we could get more people to use flu vaccine, we could achieve herd immunity, which would help protect those who cannot take the vaccine - like you. The high refusal rate keeps us from doing that. The irony is that parents who choose to give their kids polio vaccine will skip the flu vaccine, and flu is much more likely to make those children seriously ill than polio.
Quote:
Originally Posted by in_newengland
This is such an interesting topic! A lot of good information.
I hadn't even considered biological warfare but yeeeeek, that could be disastrous. But in that case, I think I'd be most concerned about the really dangerous diseases like smallpox and polio, to name two. Chicken pox or mumps and measles, not very much. Yes, it's no fun to get sick but those illnesses aren't nearly as serious and devastating as some others.
SuzyQ, thanks for that info about making the smallpox vaccine if we had to. For some reason that disease has always terrified me, just the thought of it. Maybe it was from my mother telling me about it when I was a little kid getting vaccinated for it. We are so lucky to have vaccines available and to not have to live in constant fear.
Now if the other countries would get on with the polio vaccine, that would be a vast improvement too. I know there is a lot of work being done in Africa.
You're welcome!
Polio has been controlled in Africa. The last country in Africa where polio was endemic was Nigeria, and it was removed from the list last September after no new cases were reported for a year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fisheye
The company I worked for, when we made the vaccine back in the 1960's, was called 'National Drug'. The company that had the old vaccine stored in the 1990's was called Connaught Laboratories. And, yes, I always wondered where the vaccine went.
I have actually worked three different times (years apart) for pharmaceutical companies. I have worked on vaccines for smallpox, to tetanus, to diphtheria, to gas gangrene (which you don't hear of today), to meningitis, to flu.
I do thank everybody for their responses. I just wish that we had more success stories about eradication; instead of stories of new disease. It sometimes looks like we are loosing more ground than we are gaining.
There will always be new, called "emerging" diseases. Having viruses jump from one species to another happens, though fortunately not often. Viruses can certainly mutate to become more virulent or more infectious. Sometimes, such as with Zika, the clinical significance may have been overlooked because, well, no one was looking for it.
Gas gangrene still exists, but the bacteria that cause it can be treated with antibiotics. That made a vaccine not as attractive a way of dealing with the condition. Vaccines in general are developed against diseases that we have a significant risk of being exposed to.
Connaught and the role it played in eradicating smallpox. The article is somewhat long but fascinating. I do not agree with the author's final suggestion that we should still be routinely vaccinating for smallpox, though. The risks of the vaccine exceed the potential risk of exposure to the virus.
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