Separating facts from myths

THE Greeks (429 BC) first observed that those who survived smallpox did not get re-infected (immune memory). Buddhist nuns (900 AD) pounded the smallpox scabs (the antigen which stimulates the immune response) and practised variolation, where healthy people inhaled the powder to prevent against smallpox. Turkish physicians (1700 AD) used variolation to immunise against smallpox. Lady Mary Montague, wife of the British ambassador to Turkey, brought the idea to Britain and inspired Edward Jenner’s first smallpox vaccine in 1796.

Immunisation is one of the vital components of the child survival strategy of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nation Children’s Fund (Unicef). Every year, 2.5 million deaths are prevented and 750,000 are saved from disabilities from vaccine preventable diseases.