A little over a century ago, the U.S. infant mortality
rate was a shocking 20%, and the childhood mortality rate before age five was
another 20%. Infectious diseases
such as measles, diphtheria, smallpox, and pertussis topped the list of
childhood killers. Now, thanks to
the development of vaccines, these diseases are no longer at large.
The history of vaccines and immunization begins
with Edward Jenner, a country doctor living in England, who in 1796 performed
the world’s first vaccination. Jenner
noticed that milkmaids infected with cowpox, visible as pustules on the hand or
forearm, were immune to outbreaks of smallpox. Jenner inoculated an eight-year-old boy, James
Phipps, with pus from a cowpox lesion on a milkmaid’s hand. Six weeks later
Jenner infected two sites on Phipps’s arm with smallpox, but the boy was
unaffected by this as well as following exposures. Based on twelve similar experiments
and sixteen additional case histories he had collected since the 1770s, Jenner
published at his own expense a volume that swiftly became a vital text in the history
of medicine: Inquiry
into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccine.
The advancement of vaccines was furthered when French
chemist Louis Pasteur developed what he called a rabies vaccine, but was really
the rabies antitoxin, in 1885.
Because of his advancements, we largely have Pasteur to thank for
today’s definition of vaccine as a
“suspension of live (usually attenuated) or inactivated microorganisms or
fractions thereof administered to induce immunity and prevent infectious disease.”
Timeline of the History of Vaccinations
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First Generation of Vaccines
(pre-1950s)
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1798
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Smallpox
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1885
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Rabies
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1897
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Plague
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1917
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Cholera
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1917
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Typhoid vaccine (parenteral)
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1923
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Diphtheria
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1926
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Pertussis
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1927
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Tuberculosis (BCG)
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1927
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Tetanus
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1935
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Yellow Fever
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1940s
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DTP
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1945
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The first influenza vaccines (flu)
began being used.
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1950s-1960s
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1955
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Inactivated polio vaccine licensed
(IPV).
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1955
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Tetanus and diphtheria toxoids
adsorbed (adult use, Td)
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1959
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World Health Assembly passes
initial resolution calling for global smallpox eradication.
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1961
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Monovalent oral polio vaccine
licensed.
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1963
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Trivalent oral polio vaccine
licensed (OPV).
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1963
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The first measles vaccine
licensed.
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1964
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Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP), designed to provide CDC with recommendations on vaccine
use, holds its first meeting.
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1964-1965
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20,000 cases of Congenital Rubella
Syndrome occurred during the largest rubella epidemic in the United States.
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1966
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U.S. Measles eradication goal
enunciated.
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1967
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Mumps vaccine licensed.
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1969
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Rubella vaccine licensed - 57,600 rubella cases reported
this year.
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1970s
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1970
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Anthrax vaccine manufactured by the Michigan Department of
Public Health.
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1971
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Routine smallpox vaccination
ceases in the United States.
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1971
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Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine
licensed (MMR).
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1976
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Swine Flu: largest public vaccination program in the United States
to date; halted by association with Guillain-Barré syndrome.
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1977
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Last indigenous case of smallpox
(Somalia).
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1978
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Fluzone, the current flu vaccine that is made by Aventis pasteur,
was licensed.
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1979
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Last case of polio, caused by wild
virus, acquired in the United States.
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1980s
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1980
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Smallpox declared eradicated from
the world.
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1981
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Meningococcal polysaccharide
vaccine, groups A, C, Y, W135 combined (Menomune)
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1982
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Hepatitis B vaccine becomes available.
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1983
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Pneumococcal vaccine, 23 valent
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1986
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The National Childhood Vaccine
Injury Act establishes a no-fault compensation system for those injured by
vaccines and requires adverse health events following specific vaccinations
be reported and those injured by vaccines be compensated.
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1988
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Worldwide Polio Eradication
Initiative launched; supported by WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International, CDC and
others.
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1989-1991
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Major resurgence of measles in the
United States - 55,000 cases compared with a low of 1,497 cases in 1983.
Two-dose measles vaccine (MMR) is recommended.
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1990s
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1990
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The Vaccine Adverse Reporting
System (VAERS), a national program monitoring the safety of vaccines
established.
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1990
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Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib)
polysaccharide conjugate vaccine licensed for infants.
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1990
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Typhoid vaccine (oral)
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1991
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Hepatitis B vaccine recommended
for all infants.
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1991
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Acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP)
licensed for use in older children aged 15 months to six years old.
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1993
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Japanese encephalitis vaccine
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1994
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Polio elimination certified in the
Americas.
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1994
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Vaccines for Children (VFC)
program established to provide access to free vaccines for eligible children
at the site of their usual source of care.
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1995
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First harmonized childhood
immunization schedule endorsed by ACIP, the American Academy of Family
Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics is published.
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1995
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Varicella vaccine licensed; before the vaccine an estimated 4
million infected annually in the United States.
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1995
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Hepatitis A vaccine licensed.
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1996
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Acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP)
licensed for use in young infants.
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1998
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First rotavirus vaccine
licensed.
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1999
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Rotavirus vaccine withdrawn from
the market as a result of adverse events.
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1999
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Lyme disease vaccine approved by the FDA.
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1999
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FDA recommends removing mercury
from all products, including vaccines. Efforts are begun to remove thimerosal,
a mercury based additive, from vaccines.
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2000s
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2000
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Worldwide measles initiative
launched; 800,000 children still die from measles annually. Measles declared
no longer endemic in the United States.
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2000
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Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevnar)
recommended for all young children.
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2001
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September 11 results in increased
concern of bioterrorism. The United States establishes a plan to re-introduce
smallpox vaccine if necessary, a vaccine thought never to be needed again.
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2002
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Lyme disease vaccine withdrawn
from the market by the manufacturer because of lawsuits and lack of demand
for the vaccine.
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2003
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Measles declared no longer endemic
in the Americas.
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2003
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First live attenuated influenza
vaccine licensed (FluMist) for use in 5 to 49 year old persons.
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2003
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First Adult Immunization Schedule
introduced.
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2004
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Inactivated influenza vaccine
recommended for all children 6 to 23 months of age.
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2004
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Pediarix,a vaccine that combines the DTaP, IPV, and Hep B
vaccines, into one shot, is approved.
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2005
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Rubella declared no longer endemic
in the United States.
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2005
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Boostrix and Adacel, Tdap vaccines,
are approved for teens.
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2005
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Menactra, a new meningococcal vaccine is approved for people
between the ages of 11 to 55 years of age.
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2006
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RotaTeq is a new rotavirus vaccine from Merck.
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2006
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ProQuad is a new vaccine that combines the MMR and Varivax
vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox into a single shot.
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2006
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Gardasil, the first HPV vaccine is approved.
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2007
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A booster dose of Varivax, the
chickenpox vaccine, is now recommended for all children.
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2007
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The recommended age for Flumist,
the nasal spray flu vaccine, was lowered to two years.
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2008
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Outbreaks of measles increasing across the
U.S. as vaccination rates drop among some communities over vaccine safety
fears.
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2008
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Rotarix, a two dose rotavirus vaccine is approved.
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2008
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Pentacel, a combination of DTaP, IPV and Hib is approved.
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2008
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Kinrix, a combination of DTaP and IPV that can be used for
children between the ages of 4 and 6 is approved.
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