A vaccine's autobiography: I am very small, but I am related to you

I am a tiny vaccine, created to prevent and control infectious diseases.

I'll tell you a story about smallpox and you'll probably understand why I'm related to you: In the 18th century, Europe was plagued by the smallpox virus, with more than 400,000 deaths each year. British doctor Edward Jenner was practicing medicine in the countryside and found that milkmaids who were in close contact with cows did not seem to get smallpox. It turned out that these milkmaids had been exposed to cowpox infection during their long work and had developed immunity to smallpox. So he boldly did an experiment, took some pus from the scabs on the hands of the milkmaids, and inoculated it into an eight-year-old boy. Miraculously, the boy did not get sick during the raging epidemic. Why? It turned out that the virus in the pus of the milkmaid's scabs entered the boy's body, activated the child's immune system, and produced long-term immune memory. When the boy encountered smallpox virus infection again, the immune cells in the body were immediately awakened, the invading virus was identified and suppressed, thus protecting the individual from getting sick again. This is the first vaccine produced in the human world - the cowpox vaccine.

Since then, the vaccine family has been on a roll. Smallpox has been eradicated, polio is dying, hepatitis B, hepatitis A, and measles are under control, and the incidence of whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria, Japanese encephalitis, and meningitis has been reduced to the lowest level in history... It is no exaggeration to say that the vaccine family has created countless glorious achievements in obscurity for mankind to have today's glory... With the development of science and technology and the continuous efforts of scientific research personnel, my family is still growing and developing. Did you know that? There are nearly 30 types of vaccines on the market, which can benefit all mankind and the entire population. Whether it is a newborn baby or an octogenarian, there are suitable vaccines to choose from. Whether it is infectious diseases or infectious diseases, we can take the lead in active prevention; whether it is the prevention of chronic diseases or cancer, we can help you stay away from diseases and improve the quality of life. You see, this is how I walked into your life and became connected with you.

Of course, I also know that you are worried about our effectiveness, our role, and whether we have safety risks. In fact, before each of my brothers and sisters came out, they had to go through a long journey, careful screening, and layers of screening before they could come to your side. Let alone how complicated and difficult the process of establishing a seed bank, separating, selecting, and proliferating antigens is for researchers in the early stage, even a mature vaccine must go through a series of physical, chemical, and biological tests when entering the preclinical safety and efficacy evaluation, and all indicators must fully meet the requirements and pass the animal test evaluation before entering the preclinical research.

Those who can enter the final clinical trial stage are already the best of the best, and they still need to go through three phases of tempering: the first phase recruits caring volunteers from the society to vaccinate us and evaluate our safety. The second phase studies and evaluates our effectiveness. Monitor whether the vaccination can stimulate the body to produce neutralizing protective antibodies, so that the recipients can obtain immune protection. The third phase evaluates the occurrence of diseases or epidemics, by comparing the prevalence of vaccinated and unvaccinated people, and observes the immune protection effect and safety of the vaccinated population when diseases or epidemics occur.

Only after all vaccines have successfully passed the final hurdle can we apply for a unique production license for each of our members. To ensure that everything is foolproof, the relevant departments will conduct quality monitoring and lifelong traceability on our vaccines after they are put on the market, and assign each of our vaccines a regulatory code, which is as unique as each of you has an ID card.

I, a vaccine, come to you with such a clear identity, to protect your health and complete my mission! (Zhao Heping, deputy chief nurse of the 21st Century Vaccination Clinic of Henan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine)