Vaccines

Drugs that are injected to help the body to develop resistance to disease or immunization of the body is called as Vaccine. Immunization is the process of developing immunity against a disease before it occurs. Vaccination is the process of developing immunity by injecting on live or dead cells, its inactivated toxins, or its cell parts of a pathogen before the disease occurs.

Various Vaccines

1. Smallpox Vaccine

Small pox was the disease that led to the discovery of first antiviral vaccine. In 1796, English physician Edward Jenner discovered a vaccine that used active cow-pox to effectively immunize against smallpox. Jenner successfully inoculated an eight year old boy. Jenner named this inoculation 'vaccination' from the latin word 'vaccinia', meaning cow pox. Jenner's method was much safer than earlier vaccines such as Pylarini's. Small Pox is the only disease totally eradicated in 1980 throghout the world by vaccination.

2. B.C.G Vaccine

B.C.G (Bacillus Calmette Guerin) Vaccine is administered to prevent Tuberculosis. The vaccine was developed in 1921 by the french researchers Albert Calmette and Camille Guerin. The name BCG stands for Bacillus Calmette Guerine. BCG is also used experimentally in the treatment of certain cancers. It is made from specially bred and weakened strains of tuberculosis bacteria. Injections of BCG cause the body to build up disease-fighting antibodies that protect against tuberculosis. It is also ineffective among certain populations.

3. D.P.T Vaccine

D.P.T Vaccine (Triple Antigen) is used to prevent diphtheria, pertusis or whooping cough and tetanus. In 1892, Baron Shibasabura Kitasato (Japan), Emil Adolf Von Behring (Germany) and Paul Ehrlich (Germany) produced the diphtheria antitoxin, using antibodies that were produced by animals previously inoculated with it. They found that the inoculation not only prevented the disease but also help to cure it in animal already infected. The 1901 Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology was awarded to Von Behring for this breakthrough and Ehrlich was given the award in 1908 for his work on immunity.

4. M.M.R Vaccine

Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) Vaccination is another Triple Vaccine. It is used to prevent measles, mumps and rubella. Rubella is also called as German Measles.

5. Rabies Vaccine

Rabies can be prevented by injections discovered by Louis Pasteur. Injections are known as ARV (Anti-Rabies Venom). French chemist Louis Pasteur developed a rabies vaccine as an immunization against the fatal disease and used it for the first time on a human in 1885. A nine year old french boy, had been bitten 14 times by a rabid dog. After Pasteur injected him several times with the pulverized spinal cord of a rabbit that had died of rabies, the boy survived.

6. Rota Vaccine

Rota Vaccine is a mandatory vaccine for children to prevent diarrhea.

7. Polio Vaccine

In 1952 an American microbiologist, Jonas Edward Salk, prepared the first vaccine against poliomyelitis. After trying it with children who had already survived polio and who would therefore be resistant, he inoculated children without a history of the disease. In 1954 the vaccine was produced in large quantities and by 1955, it was being widely used. Salk's vaccine used a dead virus as the immunization agent. In 1957, Albert Sabin, a polish-born American developed, a vaccine that used a live virus and was administered orally. Albert Sabin discovered the Oral Polio Vaccine.

8. HB (Hameophilus Influenzae Type B)

Hib is a vaccine given to children to prevent influenza.

9. Pentavalent Vaccine

It is used to prevent five bacterial diseases which includes Diphtheria, Petrusis, Whooping cough, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus Influenzae B.

10. Corona Vaccine

The corona vaccines are Pfizer vaccine, Covaxin, and Covishield. The Pfizer vaccine is the first vaccine to be approved for emergency use by the WHO. Covaxin is a vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Councils of Medical Research. Covishield is a vaccine developed by Oxford University in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India.

11. Cholera Vaccine

Prevention of cholera requires adequate sanitation facilities. A vaccine against illness has been developed by Louis Pasteur in 1880.

12. TB Vaccine

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that mainly affects the lungs but can also involve other organs. TB Vaccine was discovered by Leon Calmette and Camille Guerin in 1992.

13. Measles Vaccine

Rubeola is the medical name of the disease measles. Measles Vaccine was discovered by John.F.Enders in 1960.

14. Chickenpox Vaccine

Children should be vaccinated after they reach 12 months of age.