History of Vaccination
Medical ethics is a forever evolving topic that sparks significant controversy and discussion. Vaccine trials were an important and well-known example of the development of medical ethics. The smallpox vaccine was one of the important trials to note due to the inoculations done on children with no consent or prior information. Arm to arm transfer is a prime topic due to its violation of aseptic technique which can be later discussed. 18th century physicians did not know how to tackle the great killer known as smallpox. There was a relationship found between cowpox and smallpox immunity. This was a jumpstart: however, cowpox showed limited availability and could ultimately disappear. Past scientists and doctors knew they strived for a cure and scientific advancement, yet they failed to see the importance of ethical standards by giving subjects a blind eye to what they are about to experience. The emergence of ethical practice was a new way of medicine.
14th Century
Quarantines were not new and dated back all the way to this century. Ships had to wait 40 days before docking at the station in Mississippi.
15th-16th Century
There was an emergence of smallpox taking over in Europe. It spread through human to human contact and then became one of the leading killers wordwide.
1716
Onesimus was a slave that described to Mather a process to which he inoculated individuals in Africa. he claimed that there was a way to prevent the spread of smallpox by rubbing infected pus of an infected person to an open wound on an arm. This introduced the idea of vaccines through his controlled and detailed study.
1789
Edward Jenner was an English physician who inoculated his son with swine pox which proved no immunity against smallpox.
1796
Edward Jenner selected an 8 year old boy from the neighborhood and was vaccinated with cowpox in order to test its reaction with smallpox. the boy showed no signs of sickness.
1799
Benjamin Waterhouse was a medical professor at Harvard learned about Jenner and vaccinated 7 of his children and then exposing three of them to the disease. This test showed no ill effects on those who were exposed.
1801
Luigi Sacco found that cowpox is indigenous in Lombardy and there have been more than 8 thousand inoculations with success. This made Sacco a major supplier of the cowpox lymph.
1802
Lady Elizabeth Amherst Hale was from Montreal had three failed attempts to vaccinate her son and she was then given no choice but to give him smallpox.
1802
Jean De Carro successfully shipped lymph to Bombay via Baghdad. His efforts allowed vaccination in places like Austria, Poland, and Greece.
1803
The Balmis Expedition used foundlings to their advantage on a long sea voyage to help use arm-arm transfer as a way to vaccinate others.
1884
Louis Pasteur conducted laboratory research to find an antidote for rabies. He worried about when these results could be tested on humans. He uses his vaccine on a rabid dog that is successful to treatment compared to the dog without, who then perishes. The first human approach was on a 9 year old boy named Joseph Meister where he oversaw 12 inoculations and is confident in his future health.
1898
French steam ship SS Britannia was traveling from Italy to New Orleans with Italian immigrants. They stop at Quarantine Station and are seen to have no visible signs of health issues. They are not allowed to dock.
1902
Walter Reed was an army surgeon who identified the source of yellow fever. He wanted to enroll volunteers where he made contracts for Spanish workers. The contract stated there was an understanding of endangering life to this illness and if he contracts it, he will receive the utmost, high quality care. There was a one-hundred-dollar incentive to volunteer and double that if the illness was contracted. Rumors spread that large numbers of mosquitos were released at night into quarters who have bitten individuals with yellow fever. Even anti-vivisectionists themselves aimed to halt this study due to its high risk and misleading claims.
1902
Campagnie Francaise de Navigation v. Louisiana State Board of Public Health ruled quarantine a constitutional mandate. Around this time there was a smallpox outbreak and vaccines were becoming necessary. Cambridge MA orders that all need to be vaccinated. These events give rise to the precautions taken and how government can issue these as mandatory orders.
1905
Jacobsen v. Massachusetts was a case where Jacobson presented vaccines to be harmful and this law to require them was oppressive and arbitrary. The US Supreme Court deemed the vaccine regulation as necessary to secure the health of the public. This was a stepping stone to passing vaccine laws like school enrollment mandates.
September 18, 1918
Influenza arrived at Camp Dix then a few days later to Camp Taylor. 11,000 of these men in the military camp would become ill and about 1,500 perishes from the Spanish Flu. The flu was the leading killer and caused severe casualties to men in military camps and to people around the world.
20th Century
Medication advertisements promoted the idea of masking to stop the virus spread. Since a vaccine wasn’t yet made, there were alternative medications. Kres-Lumin was a medication used for irritation in the bronchopulmonary tract and helps with cough. Another medicine called Pyramidon was used in the early stages to reduce fever and promote prolonged relief.
September 28, 1918
A Public Health Report stated that the Spanish Flu resembles a cold with fever, body aches, and chills. The symptoms last 3-4 days and those fully recover, or they will develop pneumonia or severe meningitis. It is the complications that were a huge part of the fatality rate.
Late October 1918
Camp Taylor aimed to provide relief for pains and fevers from the flu. They transfused a serum into patients from the blood of convalescent patients and another serum from bacteria obtained from autopsy cultures and sensitized with serum of recovered cases. Several later studies from administration suggested that this treatment offered a reduced risk of death.
1960
Hippie Culture arose and they brought their ideas of distrust and opposition with authority. There was an increase in religious movements and opposed the government because it was against personal beliefs. A decade later, there were exceptions to the vaccines mandate like religious exemptions.