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Even before COVID-19 pandemic hit us, vaccines have been part of our lives right from our birth, but the need to learn about vaccines never occurred as a thought, up until now. There will be series of articles covering the following topics:-
- Timeline of human vaccines
- Understanding types of human vaccines
- COVID-19 vaccine types
- Myths about vaccines
The first part of the article will cover the timeline of human vaccines with numbers and statistics for easy consumption.
Timeline of Human Vaccines
Before we learn about different types of vaccines, let’s touch upon the timeline of human vaccines. The graph below captures the count and trend of human vaccine developments from 18th century onward. As of today, 43 vaccines have been developed, to treat same or different diseases.
18th Century
The first documented vaccine was developed in the 18th century for smallpox (1796) and it is the only vaccine in that century. As of 1980, Smallpox is the only disease that has been eradicated worldwide. It took 184 years after the first vaccine was developed to eradicate the disease. Smallpox is believed to have first infected humans some 12,000 years ago. But first known document evidence matching the symptoms of this disease dates back to 6th century, written by a bishop in France. Read more about the rise and fall of Smallpox here
As of 1980, Smallpox is the only disease that has been eradicated worldwide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eradication_of_infectious_diseases
19th Century
As we entered the 19th century, there were no new developments in the first eight decades but from the year 1880 onward 5 vaccines have been developed to fight against Cholera, Rabies, Tetanus, Typhoid Fever and Bubonic Plague.
“Plague” as a term was used with a general context and it has references in Bible too but Bubonic Plague in specific, was first recorded in 6th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague#History
20th Century
In the 20th century, there were no new developments in the first two decade but from the year 1921 onward 27 vaccines have been developed to fight against Tuberculosis, Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever, Tetanus (1st inactive vaccine), Whopping Cough, Yellow Fever, Typhus, Influenza, Tick-borne Encephalitis, Polio, Japanese Encephalitis, Anthrax, Adenovirus-4 and 7, Polio (1st oral vaccine), Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Pneumonia, Meningitis, Hepatitis B, Chicken Pox, Haemophilus Influenzae Type B, Q Fever, Hantavirus Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome, Hepatitis A, Lyme disease and Rotavirus.
21st Century
In the 21st century, new vaccine development started, early from the year 2003 onward and so far we have 10 vaccines that have been developed to fight against Influenza (1st nasal vaccine), Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever, Human Papillomavirus (which is a cause of cervical cancer), Hepatitis E, Influenza vaccine (1st quadrivalent 4-strain vaccine), Enterovirus 71 (one cause of hand foot mouth disease), Malaria, Dengue Fever, Ebola and COVID-19.
Yes, vaccine to protect against Malaria is available but it’s efficacy is very low at 40%. Since it has very low efficacy WHO doesn’t recommend that vaccine for babies who are 6-12 week old but continued effort is ongoing to create a vaccine that has higher efficacy.
Dengue Fever has vaccine too. In fact Dengue vaccine has been in development from 1920s but since it doesn’t build immunity against all are four dengue serotypes, we never had a vaccine until recently. Dengvaxia vaccine is now available but is recommended only for those who are already infected.
