THE HISTORY OF DRUGS I Vaccines Ken R. Wells, Book Editor GREENHAVEN PRESS An imprint of Thomson Gale, a part of The Thomson Corporation THOMSON * GALE Detroit New York San Francisco New Haven, Conn WaterviNe, Maine London
Contents Foreword 11 Introduction 14 Chapter 1: The First Generation of Vaccines 1. The Earliest Inoculations Took Place in Asia 19 D.P. Agrawal and Lalit Tiwari In the eleventh century the Chinese inoculated themselves against smallpox using injections of tiny amounts of smallpox pustules a practice that is believed to have been developed in India in ancient times. 2. Eradicating the Scourge of Smallpox 29 Edward Jenner An English physician describes how he developed the first vaccine in the 1790s to fight smallpox, one of the world's deadliest diseases before widespread vaccination occurred. 3. The Fight Against Rabies 34 Louis Pasteur A French microbiologist tells in an 1885 report how he developed the germ theory of disease, which led to his development of a vaccine to prevent rabies. He also describes his testing of the vaccine on a nine-year-old boy. 4. The Search for a Tuberculosis Vaccine 43 Frank M. Collins The search for a vaccine against tuberculosis was started in the mid-1800s by a New York physician. He developed a vaccine but it was never tested on humans. His work led to two French scientists developing a successful tuberculosis vaccine in 1927. 5. Vaccines Against Cholera and Plague 50 Edythe Lutzker and Carol Jochnowitz Waldemar Haffkine was a Russian microbiologist who developed vaccines in the late 1800s against two of the deadliest epidemic diseases: cholera and bubonic plague.
Chapter 2: The Second Generation of Vaccines 1. The Competition to Develop an Oral 59 Polio Vaccine Bernard Seytre and Mary Shaffer Scientists Hilary Koprowski and Albert Sabin worked to develop an oral polio vaccine in the 1950s. Sabin's vaccine underwent extensive human trials in the Soviet Union before it was approved for use in the United States in 1962. 2. The Successful Search for a Measles Vaccine 67 Thomas H. Weller and Frederick C. Robbins After polio, the next common childhood disease to be targeted for a vaccine was measles. An attenuated vaccine to prevent the disease was developed by John F. Enders in 1963. 3. The Godfather of the Modern Vaccine Era 73 Huntley Collins Maurice R. Hilleman played a key role in developing vaccines against common childhood diseases, including mumps, measles, chickenpox, and rubella (German measles) in the twentieth century. He also developed a pandemic flu vaccine. 4. Breakthrough Vaccines Against Hepatitis A and B 83 Margie Patlak American scientist Baruch Blumberg discovered the hepatitis B virus in the late 1980s and eventually developed a vaccine against it. He also created a vaccine against hepatitis A. Chapter 3: The Search for New Vaccines 1. New Approaches in the Search for an 93 HIV Vaccine Patricia Kahn Traditional approaches to developing a vaccine do not work for HIV. Researchers now believe a combination of vaccines will be required to control HIV.
2. The Rush to Develop an Avian Flu Vaccine 100 Erika Check Scientists are racing to develop a vaccine against the deadly avian flu virus, but their efforts are hampered by limited production capacity, financing, and political fighting. 3. New Vaccinations Against Tobacco and 107 Cocaine Addictions Shannon Klie Two biotechnology companies have developed vaccines against nicotine and cocaine. Ethicists are concerned that the vaccines will allow people to use tobacco and cocaine without becoming addicted. 4. The Challenge of Creating Vaccines Against 115 Bioterrorism Agents The National Academy of Sciences Researchers are rushing to develop vaccines against bioterrorism agents, including anthrax, smallpox, and Ebola. However, research is hampered by a lack of vaccine production capabilities in the United States. 5. The Nasal Spray Vaccine for Influenza 125 Is Approved Nancy Ross-Flanigan After more than thirty years of work, University of Michigan epidemiologist Hunein Maassab developed afluvaccine delivered by a nasal spray. The vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2003. Chapter 4: Recent Controversies over Vaccines 1. The Anthrax Vaccine Is Safe 131 The National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine Government researchers have concluded that the anthrax vaccine licensed in 1970 and used by the military is both safe and effective as a tool against bioterrorism.
2. The Military's Anthrax Vaccine Is Not Safe 140 Bob Evans Several scientists question the safety of the anthrax vaccine used by the military, stating that there are documented cases of the vaccine causing ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). They also claim the military used weak data in determining the vaccine's safety. 3. The Government Allowed Unsafe Amounts 151 of Mercury in Childhood Vaccines Andrea Rock An award-winning journalist reports that U.S. health officials inadvertently allowed the amount of mercury contained in childhood vaccines to rise to dangerous levels in the 1990s, leading to an increase in autism. 4. The Government Did Not Allow Unsafe Levels 163 of Mercury in Childhood Vaccines The U.S. Food and Drug Administration The level of mercury in childhood vaccines in the 1990s was insignificant and did not cause autism in infants who received scheduled vaccines. 5. The Controversial Vaccine for Cervical Cancer 174 Janet Guyon A vaccine against the human papilloma virus, a sexually transmitted disease that is the main cause of cervical cancer, was approved in 2005. Conservative groups argue that immunizing teenagers could encourage sexual activity while others welcome a vaccine that can prevent debilitating disease. 6. Setbacks Plague the U.S. Flu Vaccine Program 185 Sabin Russell A medical writer chronicles the problems that have beset the influenza vaccination program in the United States since 2000. Setbacks include vaccine shortages, a lack of adequate production facilities, and the loss of vaccines due to contamination.
Appendix 191 Chronology 197 Organizations to Contact 201 For Further Research 207 Index 214