The History of Vaccines Blog

Pertussis Epidemic in Washington State

Project Director — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:36:54 +0000

Cholera Vaccination in Haiti

Project Director — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:46:30 +0000

Cholera is one of those diseases that you really don’t want to get. It begins like any other intestinal illness, with abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Suddenly, a very profuse, watery diarrhea develops. So much water leaves the body through the diarrhea that the person’s mouth becomes dry. He stops urinating because he has no fluid left.

Quadrivalent Flu Vaccine

Project Director — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:38:13 +0000

It has been a little more than 100 years since the discovery of viruses by Martinus Beijerinck. In that time, more than 5,000 different viruses have been discovered and studied. One of those viruses, influenza, has been a scourge to humanity even before we knew it existed.

Epidemiologist Benjamin Franklin

Project Director — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:26:02 +0000

What do you think about when someone mentions Benjamin Franklin? Do you think of the statesman, the inventor, the man with the kite in the thunderstorm, or the first Postmaster General?

Philadelphia Study Examines Varicella and Herpes Zoster

Project Director — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:31:37 +0000

By Thomas Fekete, MD, FCPP, Section Chief, Infectious Diseases; Professor, Medicine; Associate Professor, Microbiology and Immunology; School of Medicine, Temple University

The Modern American Vaccine Debate 4/24

Project Director — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:36:27 +0000

The History of Vaccines invites you to attend The Wistar Institute Authors Series program “The Modern American Vaccine Debate.” The event will be held Tuesday, April 24, at 6:30 pm at The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia. It is presented as part of the Philadelphia Science Festival.

Adenovirus Vaccines Reinstated After Long Absence

Project Director — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:59:36 +0000

Eighteen years after the sole manufacturer of adenovirus vaccine announced its discontinuation, adenovirus type 7 and type 4 vaccines are once again available for U.S. military trainees. The adenovirus vaccination program resumed in October 2011, with enlisted soldiers receiving the vaccine during basic training.

What’s in a Name? Or, Will Vaccination Turn Your Children into Cows?

Project Director — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:00:06 +0000

Lisa Rosner, Stockton College

World TB Day: Looking to the International Tuberculosis Campaign

Project Director — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:22:44 +0000

In June 2010 we ran a blog post about the International Tuberculosis Campaign, a post-WWII effort that TB tested and vaccinated tens of millions of people in 23 countries.

The Anti-Vaccination Society of America: Correspondence

Project Director — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:32:33 +0000

We set ourselves the task yesterday of examining a set of materials in the College’s Historical Medical Library from the Anti-Vaccination Society of America. This organization was active in the late 1800s and early 1900s, along with a collection of other anti-vaccination leagues of somewhat confusing overlap and origin.

Bird Flu Research to Be Published in Full

Project Director — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:13:06 +0000

Recent furor around research on the H5N1 virus strain that has caused influenza in birds and rare cases of severe influenza in people may have died down after last week’s meeting of a group of experts assembled by the World Health Organization.

Dateline: Edinburgh, 1802

Project Director — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:40:47 +0000

We were pleased to see Lisa Rosner, PhD, in the Historical Medical Library here at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia the other day. Rosner, who is professor of history at Stockton College as well as an advisor to History of Vaccines, is the recipient of an NEH grant in the digital humanities to develop a role-playing game about early smallpox vaccination in Scotland.

Rukhsar's Story: A Little Girl with the Last Case of Polio in India?

Project Director — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:48:15 +0000

By Lea Hegg. Originally posted on Impatient Optimists

Hotez at CHOP on Neglected Tropical Diseases

Project Director — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:22:03 +0000

On Wednesday, January 11, 2012, Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, gave the Maurice Hilleman Pediatric Grand Rounds lecture at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania.

Approval of Conjugate Pneumococcal Vaccine for Adults

Project Director — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:52:51 +0000

Thomas Fekete, MD, FCCP, Section Chief, Infectious Diseases; Professor, Medicine; Associate Professor, Microbiology and Immunology; School of Medicine, Temple University

U.S. Cell Line Facility to Produce Pandemic Influenza Vaccine

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:11:23 +0000

A Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc., manufacturing facility in North Carolina has geared up to produce pandemic influenza vaccine made from mammalian cell lines, rather than from the traditional chicken egg-based methods that have been used for more than 50 years.

Spanish Influenza Pandemic and Vaccines

Project Director — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:57:40 +0000

It’s National Influenza Vaccination Week, and we’re taking a look back to 1918, the time of the “Spanish” influenza pandemic. When the illness emerged, several useful vaccines had already been developed: smallpox, typhoid fever, and rabies, for example.

Meningococcal Vaccine Use Expanding in Africa

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:10:11 +0000

Plotkin on CSPAN

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:48:42 +0000

Rubella vaccine developer and History of Vaccines advisor Stanley A. Plotkin, MD, appeared on CSPAN's Washington Journal to discuss the history of vaccination and the U.S. government's role in regulating vaccines.

Plotkin on CSPAN's Washington Journal 11/3

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:38:52 +0000

Stanley A. Plotkin, MD, vaccine developer and History of Vaccines advisor, will appear Thursday, 11/3, on C-SPAN's Washington Journal around 9:15 am EDT. Dr. Plotkin will be discussing the history of vaccination and the role of the government in supporting research and regulating vaccine production.