Download Edward Jenner – Vaccination In 18th century England

Joseph Lister –
Antiseptics
For British surgeon, Joseph
Lister, septic sores held endless
fascination. Lister disagreed with
the accepted view that sepsis
was the result of noxious air.
Inspired by Pasteur’s work, Lister
correctly hypothesised that it
was in fact micro-organisms
in the environment that were
causing wounds to decompose.
Lister had heard about a
substance known as ‘carbolic
acid’, used successfully to
disinfect sewage works. He
predicted that the substance
could be used to clean wounds
and sterilise surgical equipment.
Lister’s antiseptic techniques
were soon universally adopted,
in fact the mouthwash,
Listerine®, is named after him!
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WORDS © CHRISTINA BAKER, WRITER, TEACHER AND EDUCATIONAL JOURNALIST; ILLUSTRATIONS © MORENO CHIACCHIERA/BEEHIVE ILLUSTRATION
WORDS © CHRISTINA BAKER, WRITER, TEACHER AND EDUCATIONAL JOURNALIST; ILLUSTRATIONS © MORENO CHIACCHIERA/BEEHIVE ILLUSTRATION
WORDS © CHRISTINA BAKER, WRITER, TEACHER AND EDUCATIONAL JOURNALIST; ILLUSTRATIONS © MORENO CHIACCHIERA/BEEHIVE ILLUSTRATION
WORDS © CHRISTINA BAKER, WRITER, TEACHER AND EDUCATIONAL JOURNALIST; ILLUSTRATIONS © MORENO CHIACCHIERA/BEEHIVE ILLUSTRATION
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Edward Jenner –
Vaccination
In 18th century England,
smallpox was rampant,
particularly among children.
It was highly contagious and
caused disfigurement, blindness
and death. In 1796, Jenner, a
rural doctor, used fluid from
a dairymaid’s cowpox blister
to inoculate eight year-old
James Phipps. The now-famous
experiment was a success and
James was shown to be immune
to smallpox.
After further experimentation
and additional proof, the Royal
Society published Jenner’s
findings, and vaccination (named
after the Latin for ‘cow’ – vacca)
has been used ever since.
In 1980, the World Health
Organisation declared smallpox
to be globally eradicated.
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Louis Pasteur – Germ
Theory of Disease
Pasteur is recognised as the
name from which we derived
the term ‘pasteurised milk’.
Pasteurs’s early experiments
showed the souring of beer,
wine and milk to be caused by
micro-organisms and that these
could be destroyed by boiling
the liquid.
The French biologist and
chemist used his findings
to develop the Germ Theory
of Disease, stating that
micro-organisms from the
environment can attack the
body, causing disease. This
theory helped to explain the
causes and nature of numerous
diseases and how vaccination
worked to prevent them.
Pasteur went on to create the
first vaccination against rabies.
Alexander Fleming
– Antibiotics
Scientists really should tidy their
laboratories more often. In
1928, one such spring-cleaning
session led to the unexpected
discovery of antibiotics.
Bacteriologist, Alexander
Fleming, noticed that a mould
had formed on a Petri dish
used for cultivating bacteria
and that a circle of the bacteria
surrounding the mould had
dissolved. Fleming hypothesised
that the mould was inhibiting
the bacteria’s growth. After
growing and experimenting with
a pure culture of the mould,
Fleming named it, penicillin,
and suggested its potential as a
decontaminator. Today, penicillin
is still one of the most widely
used antibiotics.
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Future
2003 – Human Genome Project
completed:
Medical institutes around the world
collaborate to investigate the way
human genes are structured. This
knowledge may help to treat and
prevent medical disorders in
the future.
Breakthroughs in medicine
CHRISTINA BAKER, WRITER, TEACHER AND EDUCATIONAL JOURNALIST
1998 – Production of stem cells.
1980 – Smallpox wiped out across the
globe.
1952 – Polio vaccination:
After years of research, Jonas
Salk develops a vaccine against
poliomyelitis, a crippling disease
affecting thousands of children.
1922 – Discovery of insulin:
Fred Banting and Charles Best discover
the hormone insulin, now used across
the world to treat diabetes.
1901 – Isolation of a hormone
(adrenaline).
1997 – Successful cloning of an animal
(Dolly the sheep).
1953 – Discovery of DNA structure:
James Watson and Francis Crick
determine the structure of DNA,
which holds the genetic information
for all life.
1928 – Discovery of Antibiotics:
Alexander Fleming discovers a type of
mould that fights bacteria and names
it penicillin.
1905 – Discovery of the importance
of vitamins for health:
William Fletcher and Frederick
Hopkins develop a theory that
nutrients in food help to prevent
illness.
1897 – Creation of Aspirin
1892 – Discovery of viruses:
Dmitri Iwanowski publishes findings
relating to viruses (microscopic particles
causing infection).
1882 – The germ causing the fatal
disease, Tuberculosis, is identified.
1860s – Germ Theory:
Louis Pasteur develops the idea that
disease and infection are caused by
micro-organisms.
1842 – First use of ether anaesthesia
in surgery.
Past
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1865 – Use of antiseptic:
Joseph Lister successfully uses
carbolic acid to disinfect wounds.
This saves lives and leads to cleaner,
safer surgery.
1796 – Vaccination against disease:
Edward Jenner discovers that injection
with a small dose of a disease prevents
its contraction.
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Joseph Lister’s Diary
…1865…
We are currently losing around half our patients due to infection
after surgery. The wards are filthy and the stink is almost
unbearable! My colleagues believe that the wounds are being
infected by ‘bad air’, but I am not so sure. I have been reading
about some fascinating new ideas proposed by a French chemist,
named Louis Pasteur. He suggests that tiny organisms (that can
travel in the air, a bit like pollen) are responsible for causing disease
and decay. If this is true, we may be able to prevent infection by
stopping these organisms reaching the wound.
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…later that year…
Interesting news! I was recently told about a substance called
‘carbolic acid’. It has been used successfully to keep sewage works
free from infection. This caused me to wonder whether it would
do a similar job with wounds.
I obtained some of this chemical solution and have been
soaking the surgical tools and dressings in it before applying them
to the patients’ wounds. Some are naturally a bit worried by this
new procedure, but it seems to be working!
…1867…
Last week I was able to announce to the British Medical
Association that the new methods have kept my infirmary clear
of infection for the past nine months. Death rates have also fallen
dramatically. They are a stubborn lot and have asked for more
proof but I know I am right!
I shall now dedicate my time to gathering additional
evidence. I have already convinced a number of doctors at other
hospitals to wash their hands before and after surgery and to use
carbolic acid to clean instruments and dress wounds. I am sure it
will not be long before the benefits of my procedures are obvious
to everyone. I live in hope…
Dr Joseph Lister
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Medical marvels glossary
A substance that can destroy micro-organisms
Antiseptic
Counteracts sepsis; sterile
Bacteria
Micro-organisms that cause disease
Decompose
Decay, rot, break down
Decontaminator
Remover of infection, contamination, pollution
Disinfect
Cleans a wound or infection
Eradicated
Destroy completely
Immune
Resistant to a particular infection or toxin
Inoculate
Treat with a vaccine
Micro-organisms
Extremely small (microscopic) living things
(organisms)
Noxious
Harmful, unwholesome
Pasteurised
Partially sterilised by heat
Penicillin
Antibiotic (produced naturally by Pencilium
mould or man made)
Sepsis/Septic
Contamination caused by bacteria in a wound
Sterilise
Make free from micro-organisms
Vaccination
Provides immunity to a disease
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Antibiotics
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