The Disease
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Vaccination |
In 1963, John Enders and colleagues transformed their Edmonston-B strain of measles virus into a vaccine and licensed it in the United States. (6)It was first discovered in 1954, while the polio vaccine was also being discovered, Enders and Dr.Thomas Peebles successfully cultivated measles virus in human kidney cell culture for the first time in an 11 year old boy, who would eventually become the source for the first measles vaccine. Using the isolated virus, the two were able to develop an official MMR vaccine, which in 1968 was able to treat measles, mumps and rubella all in a single shot followed by a booster, which was later developed. In 1966, the CDC set its first national eradication of measles campaign with the discovery of the vaccine.
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How it changed medicine & history |
This vaccine has prevented about 17.4 million deaths per year in children and adults (7). It also caused the CDC to set a goal to eliminate the entire virus by 1978, which was almost achieved. The vaccine caused high vaccination increase in all areas for pre school and elementary school aged children, since diseases like this were so common in all children (8). This also led to legislation to be passed requiring children to be vaccinated in order to enter school, helping eliminate the disease by increasing vaccination participation rate. The vaccination brought the eventual discovery of booster shots, after realizing in the 1980s that many children who had been vaccinated with the MMR were still contracting measles (9). Health departments and regulatory agencies came out the discovery of this vaccine, as long with polio and measles. These local health departments could educate the public on vaccines and diseases, and often with state funding, be able to provide vaccinations. Through the way the measles vaccination was discovered, it also paved the way for new research and trialling techniques for years to come in medicine.
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