General

Many of you have emailed and called us to ask if we'll be webcasting the March 1 event here at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The answer is yes. Please tune in if you can't be here in Philadelphia.

On Tuesday, March 1, at 6:30 pm, The History of Vaccines will present Paul A. Offit, MD, and Seth Mnookin speaking about their new books – Offit’s Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All, and Mnookin’s The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear. We'll be webcasting at the College's Livestream channel: http://www.livestream.com/collegeofphysicians. More

New this week on The History of Vaccines are interviews with two vaccine pioneers, Baruch Blumberg, MD, PhD, and Robert Austrian, MD.

The History of Vaccines interviewed Dr. Blumberg here at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia in November 2010. Dr. Blumberg discussed the fieldwork that led to his discovery of the Australia antigen, the challenges of investigating the nature of the Australia antigen, the discovery of its relationship to the hepatitis B virus, and his work on the serum-based hepatitis B vaccine. He also discussed being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1976 (only after prompting from us!), his subsequent travels in China at a time when very few Westerners had been there, and results of studies of reduction of HBV prevalence associated with the vaccine.

Infectious disease physican and Chief Medical Officer of the Penn Health System P.J. Brennan, MD, interviewed Dr. Austrian (1916-2007) in 2000. Dr. Austrian discussed his initial investigations into the prevalence of pneumococcal pneumonia, the assumptions he worked against that antimicrobials had "solved" the problem of pneumococcal pneumonia, and his pneumococcal vaccine trial among gold miners in South Africa. More

Because influenza viruses frequently mutate, a new seasonal flu vaccine is developed each year in order to keep up with the circulating strains. Each year, the vaccine provides protection against three strains: two influenza A strains and one influenza B. The flu vaccine for the 2010-2011 flu season provides protection against a 2009 H1N1 A strain, H3N2 A strain, and an influenza B strain More

Join us for a stimulating evening on Tuesday, March 1, when The History of Vaccines brings Paul A. Offit, MD, and Seth Mnookin to speak at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Both have newly published books – Offit’s Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All, and Mnookin’s The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear – and both have been prominent voices in the recent national media coverage of Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 Lancet paper that attempted to link MMR vaccination to autism.

Offit, an infectious disease physician and vaccine developer, and Mnookin, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, will discuss their new books and have a conversation about the past and future of vaccination as depicted in the media, among parents, and in the medical world. A question-and-answer session with the audience will follow. Registration for this free event is required. More

A January 5, 2011 report in the British Medical Journal investigates the 1998 paper that first alleged a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. The author, Brian Deer, presents evidence that the paper resulted from research fraud. The History of Vaccines blog looks at the history of the paper and how it has profoundly affected research, public health, and the public perception of vaccines over the last 12 years.

In the wake of a paper published in the Lancet in 1998, vaccination rates in Britain plummeted. The lead author of the paper, Andrew Wakefield, rose to infamy as a result of his claims that the combination measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine had caused autism in the 12 children in the study, and frightened parents began to delay or completely refuse vaccination for their children, both in Britain and the United States. Since then, outbreaks of previously eliminated diseases have sickened and killed children in both countries. More

Influenza is a challenging disease for vaccine researchers. At any given time, multiple influenza strains are circulating, and immunity against one strain does not necessarily provide protection against others. In addition, influenza A viruses frequently mutate, so that it is difficult to find a "target" within the virus that will remain stable between various strains and mutations. As a result, the current approach for developing flu vaccines is based on observations of the strains most likely to be circulating in the coming flu season. The seasonal flu vaccine contains three inactivated strains of influenza, but typically can't provide protection against other strains.

Now, the results of a recent study in mice suggest that a new approach may be able to provide long-lasting, cross-strain protection against influenza. More

Renowned vaccinologist Stanley A. Plotkin, MD, creator of the rubella vaccine used throughout most of the world, helped inaugurate the History of Vaccines website with his November 3 lecture entitled "Four Centuries of Vaccinology." This lecture is now available to view here on the History of Vaccines blog. The video features footage of Dr. Plotkin's lecture as well as the slides that accompanied his talk.

Dr. Plotkin, who was an instrumental figure in the development of rubella, polio, rabies, varicella, rotavirus, anthrax, and other vaccines, traces the serendipitous beginnings of vaccinology in the 1700s to its flowering in the latter half of the 20th century. Additionally, he highlights the relationship of vaccinology to industrial and technological developments, as well as the special role of Philadelphia institutions and researchers in vaccine development. Especially interesting is a description of an exchange with Albert B. Sabin, MD, at scientific meeting in the late 1960s, when Sabin objected to Plotkin's (and others') use of cell lines derived from human fetal tissue. More

We are thrilled to announce that The History of Vaccines epidemic game is now available!

Illsville: Fight the Disease is a game that takes players on a journey through history and health, as the townspeople of Illsville attempt to identify diseases and develop vaccines for them. Decision points based on historical events influence the outcome of the game: Should scientists be given microscopes to further their investigations? Will creating a live or killed vaccine be more effective? Players can deploy doctors, quarantines, and educators to combat outbreaks. An unsuccessful game ends when disease wipes out the population of Illsville. A successful game ends with a healthy, vaccinated population.

More

Research for new articles about typhoid fever and cholera have kept us busy in The College's Historical Medical Library over the past week, and as usual, we stumbled across some great holdings. One that we particularly wanted to share was this map showing deaths from typhoid fever and malaria in Washington, D.C., from 1888-1892.

Click on the image or click here to be taken to its page in the Gallery, where you can zoom in on the map to see how the diseases affected the city's districts. With red dots representing deaths from typhoid, and blue representing deaths from malaria, the map documents 626 typhoid deaths and 363 from malaria over the five-year period. More

In the United States, meningitis is thought of as an extremely rare disease. It usually appears in the news when a college student has fallen ill, amid reminders by public health officials that a meningococcal vaccine can protect against diseases caused by Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, including meningitis. In 2008 (the most recent year for which data are available) only about 1,100 total cases of meningococcal disease were reported in the United States, and meningitis cases were only a fraction of that number.

In other parts of the world, however, meningitis takes a much larger toll. In Sub-Saharan Africa, an area that spans from Senegal to Ethiopia is called the “meningitis belt” because of the epidemic waves that occur there, some lasting as long as three years. The largest epidemic wave in history led to more than 25,000 meningitis deaths from 1996 to 1997. In 2009 alone, more than 88,000 cases were reported. Now, a new vaccine developed specifically for use in Africa offers hope that future epidemics may be prevented. More