Vaccines are a strange thing. They prevent you from getting deadly diseases like the flu. All of that protection is from one, simple shot at the doctor’s office. It probably seems like magic, but there’s an extremely well-developed science behind it. Today, we’re going to learn all about vaccines as you become a little epidemiologist - a doctor who works to prevent deadly diseases!
Where did Vaccines come from?
Before we can dive into what makes vaccines work, we should first go over where they came from in the first place! The first vaccine ever created was for a disease called smallpox. Smallpox was a deadly disease that ravaged the entire world. The disease caused a red, painful rash that spread throughout the entire body. Symptoms of the virus included fever, chills, a painful headache, and fatigue. Luckily, now, because of vaccination, the smallpox virus has entirely been wiped off the face of the planet.
For smallpox’s eradication, we can thank Dr. Edward Jenner. In 1796, Dr. Jenner observed that farmers who had contracted cowpox were immune to smallpox and its symptoms. Cowpox was a disease related to smallpox that mostly affected cows. After finalizing his studies he successfully inoculated an eight-year-old boy with the cowpox virus. Jenner had taken pus from the rash of a farmer’s hand and injected it into the boy. The pus contained a weakened version of the cowpox virus, so therefore his body could naturally fight it off. His immunity to cowpox could now be used against smallpox as the viruses were so similar. The first vaccine was now created. The same concept is still used today to create vaccines. Now, let’s get into the science a little deeper.
How do Vaccines Work?
The technology with which we create vaccines has evolved, but the process in which we create vaccines has stayed roughly the same since 1798. Dead or very weakened samples of a virus are injected into the body. The body’s defense system against disease is called the immune system. The body detects foreign cells in the blood and white blood cells produce antibodies to kill these invaders.
When weakened samples of a virus are injected into the body, the immune system responds by creating antibodies for the virus. The antibodies that are created are specific to the virus, and once the white blood cells of the body create them, they can be constructed whenever needed. The weakened sample is not strong enough to inflict damage onto your body. It’s just strong enough that your body creates antibodies to fight it off! Now that the virus is identified and antibodies are created, even a full-force virus can not harm your body! Your immune system has learned what to make when that virus enters your body!
The immune system is amazing in the way that it can adapt and learn to fight new viruses. That is exactly what vaccination is! Weakened samples of a virus teach your immune system and prepare it for the real battle! Once that real battle comes along, your body knows what to do and how to fight off the real thing.
Conclusion
You’re now ready to become a full-fledged epidemiologist! Pretty soon, we will see a vaccine for the coronavirus. However, some of them don’t work the way that I described. Doctors are coming up with completely new ways to fight viruses, but traditional vaccine methods, like the ones I mentioned, are still being used everyday to combat thousands of viruses! Once a vaccine is found for the coronavirus, the pandemic is over.