Can you imagine a
car of the future
with stone
wheels?
Autonomous cars, artificial intelligence, clean energy… This is the future we hope for. Since the 18th century, vaccines have prevented disease and contributed to the development of mankind. And this progress must go on. In order not to miss the ride into the future, we invite you on a journey through time that explains the origin, development, and most importantly, the importance of vaccination for the health of all people.
Although the subject is more current than ever, due to the covid-19 pandemic, the history of vaccines begins in the 18th century. At the time, smallpox was killing more than 400,000 people per year worldwide, and in 1789, British physician Edward Jenner developed the world’s first immunizer.
This happened after Jenner noticed that in his town, people who milked cows and who had contracted the bovine version of smallpox did not contract human smallpox. From this observation, he inserted the pus virus from the hand of a contaminated milker into a healthy child.
Result: the boy ended up contracting the disease, but in a mild form. And then he was cured.
The next step was to insert, in the same child, a liquid from a wound coming from human smallpox. He also did not contract the disease. The vaccine was developed, and two centuries later smallpox was eradicated.
In Brazil, the greatest personality in the Brazilian immunization scenario was the public health physician Oswaldo Cruz. Besides being responsible for campaigns that eradicated yellow fever from Rio de Janeiro, he was at the forefront of the mandatory smallpox vaccination campaign.
The lack of information about mass immunization triggered the Vaccine Uprising in 1904, and even after the mandatory ban was dropped, smallpox was also eradicated in Brazil.
Source: Fiocruz
When a virus first “invades” our body, the immune system starts producing specific antibodies to fight it. The problem is that this reaction takes a while, and in the meantime we get sick.
The role of the vaccine is to prevent this invasion. In other words, they invade our body to stimulate the production of antibodies early in a gentle and safe way. Thus, if and when actual contact with the virus happens, the body will have already developed ways to fight it.
Source: Butantan Institute
In the last centuries, dozens of immunizers have been developed that can ensure life or prevent serious consequences caused by various diseases. Brazil’s National Immunization Program is one of the largest in the world, and offers vaccines for all age groups, including (the most recent, against covid-19):
To find out when each immunization should be applied, go to the National Vaccination Schedule for children, adults, and the elderly.
Despite the high adherence of Brazilians to the vaccine, in recent years, the number of those immunized has been dropping drastically in Brazil. Recent data from the Ministry of Health indicate that vaccination coverage has dropped from 73% (in 2019) to 59% (in 2021), while the ideal level is 95%.
Measles, which had already been eradicated in 2016, is no longer under control and has spread across the country again since 2019. On the same path, the polio (infantile paralysis) vaccine, which reached 98% of the target audience in 2015, reached less than 70% in 2021.
Some of the reasons include lack of availability in some regions and the covid-19 pandemic, which required social isolation around the world, but also fake news linking vaccination to deaths or disease. Therefore, more than ever, it is necessary for the whole society to remember the importance of immunization and fight against fake news.
It is important to remember that, according to Law No. 8069 (the Statute of Children and Adolescents), in cases recommended by health authorities, the vaccination of children is mandatory.
Good information saves many lives. So, check out some frequently asked questions about vaccines and share them with those you know!
The recent development of the coronavirus vaccine, in addition to all the progress made so far, gives us strong indications that the evolution of science and medicine can guarantee increasingly effective and safe immunizers.
In addition to ongoing tests for vaccines against diseases like AIDS (HIV virus) and even delaying the effects of Alzheimer’s, today, there are studies that seek not only to protect people against serious forms of diseases like covid-19, but to prevent them from becoming infected.
The road to new discoveries is still long, but one thing is certain: collective immunization will remain an important mission for all of us!
From 24 to 30/Apr
Technical manager: Dr. Sérgio Hércules – CRM 61.605
