The very origin of the word vaccination tells us a lot. Cowpox is a disease that is more common in other animals like cows and cats than it is in us, but we can catch it from animals. Dairy workers who touch cow udders infected with cowpox can end up with the typical pox pustules on their hands. These are very much like smallpox pustules, but the cowpox disease is much milder. Dr. Edward Jenner made note of this relationship and thought deliberately infecting people with cowpox would protect them from the very contagious and much more dangerous smallpox. That was the rationale for the first modern vaccination procedure. “From the Latin vacca, for cow. English physician Edward Jenner coined the term vaccination in 1796 to describe inserting pus from cowpox lesions into open cuts on human patients to prevent smallpox.” It worked. Deliberately infecting people with cowpox protected them from the much more deadly and dangerous smallpox virus.
Immunity is an absolutely essential inborn protective mechanism. When viruses and bacteria attack us, we make antibodies against them. Giving someone live cowpox virus is no different from milking a cow and getting a cowpox infection. Infecting them on purpose with cowpox protects them from the risk of dying or going blind from smallpox. It is not perfect, but there are more benefits than risks. Mind you, viruses were not discovered until 100 years later. They did not understand what they were doing. They must have noticed that people who had been infected with cowpox were protected from smallpox. That is a big deal.
“One of history’s deadliest diseases, smallpox is estimated to have killed more than 300 million people since 1900 alone. But a massive global vaccination campaign put an end to the disease in 1977—making it the first disease ever eradicated.
Eradicating smallpox prevented millions of deaths and—by removing the need to treat and prevent the disease—saves many countries billions of dollars. Perhaps just as important: it showed the world that disease eradication was possible. Today, we are still applying the lessons learned from the successful smallpox eradication effort.”
An even stranger approach to smallpox prevention was variolation. Variola is another name for the smallpox virus. As with the cowpox technique, material was collected from active smallpox pustules and deliberately introduced under the skin. “In general, the technique was quite effective. In medieval Europe, it seems that only 2% to 3% of people who were variolated went on to develop any of these negative risks. A study conducted in Boston — when Massachusetts was still a colony — found that variolation lowered your risk of death by smallpox from 14% to 2%.” That is a seven-fold reduction. I am not sure how it worked. Maybe it took longer for the virus to get from under the skin to the vital organs than if you handled contaminated items and then took in the virus directly to the vital organs on food. Exposure to the virus triggers the immune response. In deadly viral diseases it is always a race. Does our immunity throw off the virus before it kills us or does viral replication kill us first. Deliberate exposure to the virus speeds up the immune response the next time we are exposed.
Of course, deliberately infecting people with smallpox could easily go wrong. Remember these people, even Dr. Jenner knew nothing about viruses or sterile technique. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. Smallpox killed 300 million people just since 1900. Vaccination eliminated it.
The polio vaccines are more modern. There is a killed polio vaccine. There is also a weakened polio virus. The killed or weakened virus is enough like the wild, unaltered virus to cause a vigorous immune response to the wild virus and thereby prevent the disease or make the complications milder. These vaccines seem very straightforward to me. The killed virus is foreign. When we inject it, you develop an immune response to that virus. It is the same thing that happens when you are exposed to the virus naturally. The flu vaccine is also a killed vaccine.
Formaldehyde is used to kill the virus in inactivated vaccines. The amounts of formaldehyde in these vaccines are tiny and there is some amount of formaldehyde naturally occurring in the human body. There is not enough formaldehyde in these vaccines to be toxic. Otherwise the ingredients are much like those in any sterile, injected medication. The old vaccines are simple. They work by giving you killed or weakened virus. That is like having the disease naturally. Once you have the flu or polio, your immune response is primed to fight off the disease when you are exposed to it at the grocery store.
I respect the fact that many of you don’t trust vaccines. I respect the fact that many of you don’t trust American medicine anymore. I understand it. When I went to medical school, one of the lessons that stuck with me is this one: “The foremost duty of the physician (or any clinician), is to be an advocate for your patient.” That is patient-centered care. I called my approach golden rule medicine. If I faced the problem this patient faces, what would I want done for me? That is not a perfect test, but it worked for me and my patients. That is not the way medicine works anymore.
Gone are the days when you and I could sit together, discuss your problem, and decide together what is best for you. Businessmen are deciding what healthcare should look like. The executives of large health insurance companies and enormous hospital systems are deciding how you should interact with your doctor and what is appropriate. The insurance executives don’t answer to you. They answer to stockholders.
That is a real shame because the promise of scientific medicine has never been greater. New scientific knowledge and new systems can help you live a longer, healthier life right now, but the current system will never do it. It all depends on facts, science, evidence, and the truth. That is my promise to you. That is what I will bring to these pages to the best of my ability. Our current system is dominated by large insurance companies, drug companies, huge hospital systems, and their political allies. They will never give you better health at lower cost. Their goal is to get as much money from you as they can. The best path forward is for your town to own an advanced primary care practice that uses scientific evidence to treat chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. That will give you the most bang for the buck! I would rather help you get there than write. Let’s get started!
Here is a very interesting fact. The first mandatory vaccine campaign for Americans was ordered by General George Washington for his Continental Army. The campaign was largely successful and not a single regiment was rendered ineffective by smallpox.
https://health.mil/News/Articles/2021/08/16/Gen-George-Washington-Ordered-Smallpox-Inoculations-for-All-Troops
Beautifully said. I hope we can all help each other and save lives. It is very difficult navigating the truth from the false claims or political rhetoric. We are all so blessed to have you explain these details and have a rational calm discussion of information that can save our lives. Thank you and may you have a most beautiful shining Holiday Season!!!