Protection Through Vaccination
By H. Butka
Relief from the Dreaded Smallpox and Typhoid VACCINATION is a method by which immunity from a disease is imparted by the injection or inoculation of dead bacteria, or else bacteria that have by different methods of treatment become practically harmless, or cause only a slight reaction. The vaccine of smallpox is obtained from papules produced by the inoculation of calves with smallpox virus. The form of disease caused by the use of this vaccine is not contagious. It is called vaccinia. The microorganisms are placed on an abraded surface, usually on the left arm, and the symptoms that follow are caused by the reaction of the body to this infection. The lesion runs the typical course of a smallpox lesion, beginning three to four days after inoculation, reaching571the vesicle stage by the eighth day, when the body reaction is most severe, and healing by the fourteenth day. This inoculation produces an immunity for a period varying from seven to fifteen years. A vaccinated person cannot have true smallpox, but may have a mild form called varioloid. A good plan to follow to obtain life immunity is to vaccinate at from two to four years of age, and again when about thirteen to fifteen years. Two successful vaccinations confer life immunity. In typhoid vaccination, four doses of dead typhoid bacilli are given subcutaneously, at intervals of four to seven days, beginning with fifty million, and reaching five hundred million. The injections are usually followed by a reaction on the part of the body, shown by slight fever and some general malaise. This vaccination confers practical immunity for a period of two to five years. Further protection can be gained by revaccination. After typhoid vaccination, the blood serum has the same power of agglutinating the typhoid bacilli as has that of persons who have had the disease. In an epidemic, either of smallpox or of typhoid, all persons who have not been protected by having the disease, should be vaccinated. If they afterward take the disease, it will be in much lighter form. Vaccination may also be used in case of boils, or infections with different pus-forming microorganisms. The best method is to make an autogenous vaccine—that is, one made from a culture of microorganisms found in the wound itself. This aids by increasing the resistance and activity of the body defenses in combating the infection. Rheumatism is now believed to be caused by a specific microorganism, and a vaccine made from the streptococcus has proved beneficial in many cases. A number of other vaccines are used, but are of less importance.