What Is Ehrlich's Ability To Control Infectious Diseases?

Vaccinations include a profound specificity to how they safeguard the well-being of the patients being given the medicine. First, the antibody cells receive stimulation with the a partial cut of the disease. Antibodies, a protein in the immune system, are responsible for the removal of the infectious disease

Since the discovery and identification of viruses, scientists and physicians have been coming up with ways to combat bacterial illness. One physician in particular, Felix d’Herelle, was truly dedicated to finding a remedy for the bacterial illnesses, primarily the flu, spreading among French soldiers and civilians during World War I. Since no resolution existed at the time for these critically ill soldiers and civilians, many casualties occurred around this time. In 1917, Herelle unveiled the underlying causes of the development of bacterial infections. He eventually developed a healing agent for bacterial infections, using viruses to eat away at the disease-causing bacteria inside the ill.

From the ancient times up to the present day, news about massive deaths caused by diseases and viruses still horrified nations from different part of the world. Even medical authorities are being shocked on how bacteria and other disease-carrying bodies react to newly formulated medicines and treatment. It is really alarming to know that these bacteria and viruses are capable on adapting to their environments through the process of evolution.

Louis Pasteur was a French bacteriologist who essentially pioneered microbiology. While working at the University of Lille he was approached by a local and was asked to determine why his distillery was having issues with his fermentation. Pasteur discovered germs caused fermentation and were the problem. He went on to discover the secrets to food preservation and created pasteurization. In his later years he studied immunology and eventually invented a vaccine for anthrax in animals. He went on create a vaccine for rabies which he used to save a boy who had been bit by a rabid dog. Due to Pasteur’s work treatment for other diseases like cholera, diphtheria, and tuberculosis were created.

Over the last couple of centuries, there have been remarkable patrons to the health community. They strived for a reform to better understand and prevent diseases world-wide. These reforms started with simple things, such as washing hands, sterilization of work tools and areas in a medical facility as well as at home, to global organizations that strive every day to prevent epidemics that can cause detrimental damage to our societies well-being.

This model, it was claimed, invalidated the humoral concepts of the holistic principles of Hippocrates. Galen and Ibn Sina promoted the ideology that man was separate from nature could be viewed objectively through experiment (Boussel et al., 1982). This heralded the birth of scientific or orthodox medicine. The frontiers of orthodox medicine were further broadened by Rudolph Virdow (1821-1902) who demonstrated that disease begins with changes in living cells and by Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) whose role in the development of the germ theory of infection was of key importance (Rees and Shuter, 1996; Gilbert et al., 1998, Bhikha and Haq, 2000). Under the germ theory, disease was associated with specific micro-organisms. Since, then technology through research and development (R and D) had played tremendous roles in the propagation of orthodox medicine which is scientifically based and evolve along certain specifications or routes. These routes led to the manifestations of plethora of specialists in disorders of specific organs, tissue and cells such as cardiologists, dermatologists and neurologists among

As we look back into our past, we can see that we’ve come a long way from covering our noses because we thought the smell was the cause of disease. The field of medicine has since then advanced, and every day there are new discoveries and progressions being made. There are many influential people who have allowed the field of medicine to be where it is now. But thanks to Paul Ehrlich, we know the effect of medicine on disease causing microorganisms. With the help of his discovery, cures for said diseases have been made with this realization.

At the time, Jenner had no way of knowing the cause of disease. Robert Koch proved that microorganisms were the cause of infectious diseases in the late 19th century. The work of Koch and other microbiologists of the time enabled us to extend vaccine strategies to other diseases.3

These include (1) the use of recombinant DNA technology for the production of relevant microbial protective protein antigens in bacterial, yeast, plant or animal cells, for vaccine preparation. (2) The use of recombinant DNA techniques for production of live vaccines by introducing the relevant gene(s) into the genome of an adequate vector such as vaccinia virus or Salmonella mutants. (3) The use of naked DNA vaccines, consisting of plasmid DNA into which the relevant gene(s) of the microbial agent has been inserted. (4) The utilization of synthetic peptides which constitute the relevant protective epitopes of viruses, bacterial toxins or parasites, for eliciting neutralizing immune response towards the disease-causing agent. (5) A novel means, called synthetic recombinant vaccines, based on synthetic oligonucleotides, which code for the relevant epitope(s), that are inserted into an appropriate vector, for the expression of this external epitope(s). This approach may allow the inclusion of more than one epitope in the desired vaccine (Arnon and Ben-Yedidia

The contexts for vaccine and biopharmaceuticals development are very different. The general clinical settings and study endpoints for vaccines are clearer from the start and seem to be better controlled than for biopharmaceuticals (Struck 1996). Researchers already know about the disease, the responsible pathogens and the immune response elicited in humans during infection. Disease staging is not a common feature of vaccine development.

Immunogenicity is defined by the ability of certain substances, such as an antigen or epitope, to elicit an immune response in the human body. This immune response can either be humoral or cell mediated. Antigens, or immunogens, can include proteins which are the most potent and polysaccharides whereas lipids and nucleic acids often do not serve as antigens unless they conjugate with either a protein or polysaccharide. Proteins and polysaccharides are often used as immunogens to study experimental humoral immune response and proteins are often used to study cell-mediated immunity.

Vaccines are used to create immunisation. They are taken orally by injection. Vaccines are a weakened form of a microorganism. It is injected to create immunity against the specific pathogen injected. Therefore, creating antibodies and a memory of the reaction to the pathogen. Immunisation is now created. When the pathogen attacks the body, the antibodies will respond and destroy the pathogen. Therefore making a person immune to a disease. (Sterrenberg,

A biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease is known as a vaccine. A vaccine contains an agent that would stimulate the body’s immune system. The immune system will recognize the agent as “foreign” and destroy it, once destroyed, the body will keep a record of it so the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters. The agent in the vaccine, resembling a disease-causing microorganism, is often made from a weakened or killed form of the microbe, toxin, or one of its surface proteins (6). Vaccines have no guarantee that it will bring complete protection for a disease. This is mainly because the host’s immune system simply does not respond enough, if not at

For the immune system to able to keep us healthy it needs to be able to recognise what is a danger to our body and therefore needs to be removed, and what is safe. Proteins are used to do this. Pathogens have proteins on their surface called antigens, which activate the immune system. Our own cells also have surface proteins which the immune system recognises as part of the body and therefore doesn’t attack. (1)

The Importance of Science and Technology in the Fight Against Infectious Diseases in the Late 19th Century