The Measles Virus: Edward Jenner's Vaccine

Thesis: Immunizations are one of the most important medical advances in history. They have severely reduced the effects of dozens of viral infections and everyone should consider getting immunized.

Infectious epidemics and pandemics have happened all through mankind's history. “They remain the prime cause of death worldwide and will not be conquered during our lifetimes.” The flu of 1918 was one of the deadliest epidemics in history. “It infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide–about one-third of the planet’s population at the time–and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population became sick, and some 675,000 Americans died during the pandemic.” No one knew how the virus spread, there were no antibiotics to fight it, and no flu shots to prevent it. In the final year of World War I, it struck terror in the hearts of people all across Europe and left more death in its wake than the combined military actions of the combatants. “It killed more Americans in a few months than World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the

We have all heard the old saying a bad apple can spoil the whole barrel. However, now there is research to prove it, at least in work situations . In the podcast, Ira Felps speaks to a professor in the Netherlands, who created an experiment to see what happens to productivity when a bad worker joins a team. Felps separated people into small groups and then gave them a task. One member of the group was an actor, after a short amount of time the rest of the group started behaving like the bad apples as well. The next part of the podcast talked about measles vaccinations. Measles cases are higher than they've been in decades mainly because more parents are nervous and refusing to vaccinate their children. Recently, an unvaccinated 7-year-old boy

mutated by a scientist, the pathogen would quite easily have the potential to destroy the human race.

However, we must understand that only one disease - smallpox – has been completely erased from this planet. “From around the world in 2011 there was around 350,000 cases of measles, with outbreaks in the Pacific, Asia, Africa, and Europe." With this ever-growing sense of safety, small groups of anti-vaccine have begun to sprout and even our very own president has refused vaccines. Even though it may seem as though we are safe from the vaccine-preventable diseases, if we become too vulnerable due to no vaccinations there is a chance that a case that will start an outbreak of some disease that is now under control is just a plane ride

Doctors see the importance of vaccines on a local scale, as they protect children and communities, but researchers and scientists see the importance of vaccines on a global scale. Over the years, the world has seen many close calls with viruses such as Ebola, Swine Flu, and Zika, each proving to be slightly more difficult to address yet preparation has not changed to accommodate for the adapting viruses. Researchers and scientists are educated to be a step ahead of viruses that threaten society and the implementation of the CEPI would allow science the means to commence the process of eradicating viruses. Already the CEPI has funding to research three high profile viruses however the more money the CEPI can allocate, the bigger its targets can become. Researchers hope to eventually take on viruses such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, three of the most widespread and adaptive viruses in the world today. With most viruses much easier to address when compared to the abilities of HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, researchers hope funding comes quickly. Sciences ability to protect the world from pandemics depends wholly on the success of the CEPI, nowhere else is there funding dedicated solely to the research of viruses and their possible vaccinations. For researchers and scientists, the success of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparation Innovations is crucial for the future of a world threatened by adaptive viruses that currently have no

Living in an environment where we are prone to many viruses, it’s very important that one take the proper precautions or considerations to control the risk of getting affected. However, when utilizing the ability of not becoming infected, one may question the fact weather there’s an actual effective form of prevention or not. To clarify the uncertainty, over many years one of the most strategic methods that have been used for the control and preventions of viruses are vaccinations. A vaccination takes advantage of one’s body natural ability to primarily learn how to eliminate almost any disease causing germ or microbe that affects it. Therefore vaccinations are considered one of the most effective ways to prevent severe outcomes initiated by viruses.

Vaccinations are used to protect against infectious diseases. Vaccination have help death rate for disease to decline, Donald G. McNeil stated that, ‘’According to a large historical study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in November 2007, death rates for 13 diseases that can be prevented by childhood vaccinations were at all-time lows in the United States. The study looked at hospital and death records going back to 1900 and estimated death rates before various vaccines were invented,’’ (McNeil, 2008).Death rate has been declining due to vaccination protecting against thirteen diseases. Ever since vaccination has been brought, the more death rates for disease have been declining. Through the use of vaccine it have eradicated smallpox and eliminated the polio virus. The article Disease Eradication states that, “When a disease stops circulating in a region, it’s considered eliminated in that region. Polio, for example, was eliminated in the United States by 1979 after widespread vaccination efforts. If a particular disease is eliminated worldwide, it’s considered eradicated. To date, only one infectious disease that affects humans has been eradicated. In 1980, after decades of efforts by the World Health Organization, the World Health Assembly endorsed statement declaring smallpox eradicated,” (Disease Eradication). Polio is an example of disease that has been eliminated, while smallpox is an example of a disease that was eradicated. Through the use of vaccination disease are either being eliminated or

Human beings are not invincible, for they are susceptible to things such as sickness, disease, and death. Throughout the years, humans have faced numerous outbreaks of different illnesses. In response to such outbreaks, people searched for ways to protect themselves. One protection method was vaccination. The creation of the first vaccine, the further development of common vaccinations, and the varied responses to vaccination have greatly impacted society.

I. Introduction (Approximately 1min.) A. Attention Getter: Back in the 19th and 20th centuries there were a lot of horrifying diseases that infected people, mostly children and thousands of people died. People either recovered and developed natural immunity, or they died. Nowadays people have a third and much easier option: vaccinations.

What is Bioterrorism? What are the types of Bioterrorism? What issues or concerns should we be aware of when talking about Bioterrorism? How is Bioterrorism different from the United States and that of Guam? These are some of the things people would think of and wonder when they hear the word Bioterrorism. It’s important to know the different steps or precautions that a person can look into in order to prevent themselves from being a victim of Bioterrorism. First things first, Bioterrorism is defined as the intentional release of toxic biological agents to harm and terrorize civilians, in the name of a political or other cause. The history of Bioterrorism goes way back. According to the Terrorism Issues and Homeland Security, there have always been efforts to use germs and disease as weapons. The reported risk has led the U.S. government to expend immense resources for bio-defense in the early part of the 21st century. According to Right Diagnosis from health grades, there was a list of the different types of Bioterrorism and they are: Anthrax, Salmonella, Glanders, Melioidosis, and Smallpox.

One hundred years ago, the very thought of computers or the World Wide Web, even the thought of passenger planes were not even considered to be logical. When you really think about it, the exponential growth of how far we have come over the past century is in fact, terrifying. Now obviously there is no written book on how fast or how slow the human race should progress, it just has to be done in order to survive. Nobody knows if we are heading in the right direction, or slowly spiraling down a dark fiery path that leads to the end of humanity, absolutely nobody knows. Of course, this means that there will be advancement in biological warfare that will be more dangerous than agents are right now. One of these possible advancements includes Stealth Viruses, named so because the virus could remain in the host for a period of time until it is activated by the aggressor. Designer Diseases are among another possible advancement in the field. This tactic involves actually creating the pathogen in order to create the disease, with the common goal of infecting a mass population. Gene Therapy is yet another biological weapon that can be used in the future. “Gene therapy will revolutionize the treatment of human genetic diseases. The goal is to effect a permanent change in the genetic composition of a person by repairing or replacing a faulty gene. Genes have already been spliced into bacteria to produce “human” insulin in large quantities.” (Michael J. Ainscough). “Designer Genes” and “Binary Biological Weapons” are two more possible paths that can be taken for the future of biological weapons. Nobody can predict what path we are heading towards or what the future holds for us, but many believe that these biological weapons are where the business is heading. We can do our best to keep these advancements in technology out of the

Living in an environment where we are prone to many viruses, it’s very important that one take the proper precautions or considerations to control the risk of getting affected. However, when utilizing the ability of not becoming infected, one may question the fact weather there’s an actual effective form of prevention or not. To clarify the uncertainty, over many years one of the most strategic methods that have been used for the control and preventions of viruses are vaccinations. A vaccination takes advantage of one’s body natural ability to primarily learn how to eliminate almost any disease causing germ or microbe that affects it. Therefore vaccinations are considered one of the most effective ways to prevent

Measles (also known as rubeola or “red measles”) is an acute, febrile viral infection that was a very familiar childhood infection world-wide until the introduction of an attenuated live-virus vaccine in the 1960’s. Now it is rarely seen in the United States and the rest of the medically developed world, re-emerging usually only when and where there has been a lapse in routine immunization practices and the necessary high levels of vaccine coverage have dropped. On a global scale, prior to the measles vaccine, the effects of measles were devastating — millions died from measles each year in all parts of the world. However, global measles deaths are diminishing, decreased by 75% from an estimated 544,200 in 2000 to 145,700 in 2013 (Moss and Griffin, 2012; WHO, 2015 Feb).

Nevertheless, DURC experiments should be published and not censored based on the principle of Maximizing Benefits and Minimizing Harms. It is necessary for these studies to be taken place in order for further development in therapeutics and possibly eradicating new diseases and prepare the population in case of a pandemic. According to Trevan, almost all biological knowledge can be either misused or applied for good. If there were to be someone whose intention were to create a bioterror weapon using a live, highly transmittable organism censorship would not be that big of a barrier to cross. Since many people’s concern is biosafety, an uncontrollable weapon is unsuited to targeted attacks and its use would leave its effects on the user as well. Trevan also states that the number of people who would ever be interested in causing this type of damage would be extremists who think humans are the problem but their numbers are very small, and censorship will not stop them. Even if we censor the publications, we cannot prevent deadly diseases from occurring, sometimes they occur, like flu pandemics, etc. Other scientists may think that banishing publication or limiting procedures of the DURC experiments can prevent people from creating new transmissible, virulent organisms, but the risk for this to happen is quite small. It should be noted that as the world evolves, and new findings have come to light, the risks and benefits will both multiply. There will be the risk of people that will want to use these experiments in a malevolent way to harm society. However, the known benefits of addressing public-health challenges from nature will almost always far outweigh the potential and unknowable increased risk of misuse (Trevan, 292). Although there might some