Five surprising moments in vaccine history - Extra Credit Assignment

 About the Author 

In her three-part video series and article titled "Five Surprising Moments in Vaccine History," Anna Rothschild delves into the historical background of vaccinations. With the help of other vaccine and health specialists, Rothschild delivers us a thorough video series to help us understand vaccines better. Through her scientific journey, she was able to reveal surprising facts about the early, crude techniques employed to contain the highly contagious smallpox, vaccine skepticism dating back to the late 1700s, and germ theory. Rothschild’s biology degree from Brown and her Masters in journalism from NYU has enabled her to become a successful journalist who has won multiple accolades for her work writing science and health stories.

Article/Video Summaries and Takeaways 

In the article and the first video entitled, “200 years of Vaccine Skepticism,” Rothschild outlines the mechanism of how immunizations work by showing us an animation of how the body’s defenses combat diseases or pathogens. Additionally, Rothschild delves into what came before vaccines, which was variolation, an approach different countries practiced that involved exposing healthy individuals to the infectious matter. Doing this would allow these people to develop the necessary antibodies to fight off the small exposure to the smallpox; however, the fatality rates were very high, with one of two people dying every time it was practiced. Rothschild then talks about how the practice of immunization had controversy way before people even understood the germ theory, which I thought was very interesting. I have never heard of Variolation and the practice of putting an infected thread in an open cut and blowing scabs up someone's nose as an immunization practice, which I found very shocking and kind of mind-blowing that people years ago thought of things like that. In this particular video, Rothschild uses critical thinking because not only did she research the topics on her own, but she consulted experts from this field to better understand the science and history behind how vaccinations came to be. In the interview with the field expert, she keeps an open-mind and asks questions to present her audience with the most accurate information. 

In the second video entitled, “What Ingredients are in Vaccines,” Rothschild explores the progress of bacteriology, antitoxins, and toxoids. These are forms of diseases that assist individuals in generating their own immune defenses against pathogens. Furthermore, Rothschild elucidates the most controversial topics regarding additives in vaccines. Formaldehyde and Thimerosal are two additives that anti-vaxxers worry about, however, there is such a small dose in these vaccines, you can find foods that have a higher dosage of it, and Rothschild uses critical thinking here by presenting the audience with factual evidence and comparing the dosages to actual foods you can find in your kitchen. One piece of information I found interesting was that people believed Thimerosal was linked to autism; however, Rothschild shuts down this idea by saying there was no scientific evidence this was the case, but still scientist took Thimerosal out of all vaccines to reassure concerned parents that their children wouldn't get autism from getting vaccines. Another thing I found interesting and didn’t know before was that aluminum is in some of our vaccines for Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis, and is also in baby formula. 

Finally in the third video entitled, “Are Vaccines Safe?,” Rothschild covers the FDA’s stringent oversight of vaccinations and the thorough testing process to ensure the safety of the public. Rothschild clearly walks us through the process of vaccine approval starting at animal testing to human trials. Additionally, Rothschild reflects on the role vaccinations have in eradicating diseases. What I did not know before is that the idea that vaccines cause autism came from one paper that included fraudulent claims and data but made a lot of the public weary of getting their children vaccinated. Rothschild utilizes critical thinking by bringing in different sources and news articles to show how the article that claimed vaccines caused autism was false. After this video, my viewpoint on why everyone should get vaccines strengthened. 

Final Thoughts 

After reading the article and watching the three videos, I learned a lot of interesting and surprising information regarding the history of vaccines and how science has evolved so quickly to where we are right now. It was compelling to hear the controversies that surround vaccines and the ingredients placed in vaccines because as someone who has received vaccines as a young child, I didn’t really know the other side of the argument. I think Rothschild did a great job explaining the science behind how vaccines work in the body and outlining the history in a thorough but digestible manner so that her audience can easily understand.