the first meningitis vaccine came out in the 1970s.
the first meningitis vaccine came out in the 1970s.
when did the first meningitis vaccine come out?
1970s
vaccine produced by copeman's method was the only type issued free to public vaccinators by the english government vaccine establishment from 1899. at the same time the 1898 vaccination act banned arm-to-arm vaccination, thus preventing transmission of syphilis by this vaccine. however, private practitioners had to purchase vaccine from commercial producers. although proper use of glycerine reduced bacterial contamination considerably the crude starting material, scraped from the skin of infected calves, was always heavily contaminated and no vaccine was totally free from bacteria. a survey of vaccines in 1900 found wide variations in bacterial contamination. vaccine issued by the government vaccine establishment contained 5,000 bacteria per gram, while commercial vaccines contained up to 100,000 per gram. the level of bacterial contamination remained unregulated until the therapeutic substances act, 1925 set an upper limit of 5,000 per gram, and rejected any batch of vaccine found to contain the causative organisms of erysipelas or wound infections. unfortunately glycerolated vaccine soon lost its potency at ambient temperatures which restricted its use in tropical climates. however, it remained in use into the 1970s where a satisfactory cold chain was available. animals continued to be widely used by vaccine producers during the smallpox eradication campaign. a who survey of 59 producers, some of whom used more than one source of vaccine, found that 39 used calves, 12 used sheep and 6 used water buffalo, whilst only 3 made vaccine in cell culture and 3 in embryonated hens' eggs. english vaccine was occasionally made in sheep during world war i but from 1946 only sheep were used.
smallpox vaccine
meningitis vaccine project









































the meningitis vaccine project is an effort to eliminate the meningitis epidemic in sub-saharan africa by developing a new meningococcal vaccine. the meningitis problem in that area is caused by a strain of meningitis called "meningitis a", which is present only in the african meningitis belt. in june 2010 various sources announced that they had developed menafrivac, which is an inexpensive, safe, and highly effective vaccine which is likely to stop the epidemic as quickly as anyone had ever hoped that it would.
meningitis vaccine project