Chapter 1 - History of vaccination

Abstract

Vaccine production is the greatest achievement of mankind. It ensures immunization against antigens generating protective and long-term antibody and/or T-cell responses. The development of vaccines started in the 1700s and is still in progress today; earlier records date back to ancient times. With time, several types of vaccines, such as live attenuated vaccines, inactivated vaccines, subunit vaccines, toxoid vaccines, and nucleic acid vaccines, have evolved to facilitate the procedure. Chemical elements other than an antigenic portion, such as preservatives, stabilizers, and antibiotics, are added to the formulation to ensure long-term storage. Despite great vaccine achievements such as eradication of smallpox, eradication of polio in Africa, human papillomavirus vaccine, and measles–mumps–rubella vaccines, there has been much hesitancy, especially in the last 4 years with the COVID-19 pandemic. These pose serious hurdles in achieving herd immunity. This chapter takes us through the history of vaccination, with an outlook on major advancements in vaccination.