On August 8, 1721, 7 death row prisoners were subjected to the procedure. They came down with a very mild case of small pox, all recovered and were immune to small pox. They were granted full pardon. In 1776, George Washington ordered inoculation of all his soldiers, and the procedure was a success.
In 1798, Jenner introduced 1 st vaccination ( vacca : cow) following his experimentation with isolates of cow pox virus from ‘Blossom’.
The mass vaccination against became a standard practice.
DPT: 15-59% vaccinated Polio: 55-88% MMR: 80-90%
Immunization is the means of providing specific protection against most common and damaging pathogens. Specific immunity can be acquired either by passive or by active immunization and both modes of immunization can occur by natural or artificial means (Figure 1).
Artificially acquired passive immunity : Immunity is often artificially transferred by injection with gamma‑globulins from other individuals or gamma‑globulin from an immune animal . Passive transfer of immunity with immune globulins or gamma‑globulins is practiced in numerous acute situations of poisoning (insects, reptiles, botulism), infections (tetanus, measles, rabies, etc.) and as a prophylactic measure hypo-gamma-globulinemia ). In these situations, gamma‑globulins of human origin are preferable although specific antibodies raised in other species are effective and used in some cases (acute poisoning and tetanus and diphtheria infections. Passive transfer of cell mediated immunity can also be accomplished in certain diseases (cancer, immunodeficiency). The donor cells must be histocompatible.
This refers to immunity produced by the body in consequence of exposure to antigens. Naturally acquired active immunity : Exposure to different pathogens leads to sub-clinical or clinical infections which result in a protective immune response against these pathogens.
Active immunization may cause fever, malaise and discomfort. Some vaccine may also cause joint pains or arthritis (rubella), convulsions, sometimes fatal (pertussis), or neurological disorders (influenza). Allergies to egg may develop as a consequence of viral vaccines produced in egg (measles, mumps, influenza, yellow fever). Live vaccines although innocuous in normal individuals may produce serious infections in immunodeficient individuals and hence should be avoided in such cases . Table 3 summarizes frequencies of undesirable effects of diphtheria‑tetanus‑polio (DTP) vaccine.