By the 1850s, the diseases smallpox, diptheria, tetanus, tuberculosis and polimyelitis had claimed millions of victims,especially babies and young people. Today, vaccination has dramatically reduced deaths caused by these and many more diseases.
Vaccination is a method which enables the human body to develop the defence necessary to combat the microbes(germs) which cause the infection and stop it developing. The first vaccine was developed in 1796 by the English doctor Edward Jenner. He observed that if cowmen caught bovine smallpox, this made them immune to the type of smallpox which affected humans. Therefore, he took a little of the pus from a spot caused by bovine smallpox and put this on the scratched skin of a small boy, James Phipps. The experiment was a success. The boy got just one spot and then, when he came into contact with smallpox victims, he did not catch the disease. Finally, one of the most dangerous diseases could be beaten.
Nearly two centuries later, in 1980, the WHO(the World Health Organization) declared that smallpox had been almost eradicated throughout the world! Jenner's vaccine had pened up the way to a new era of medicine which enabled the prevention of many fatal diseases and saved millions of lives. Vaccine against smallpox was followed by vaccines against rabies, tetanus, diptheria, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis and, in more recent times, measles, whooping cough and hepatitus B. To have some idea of how efficient vaccines are, it is worth noting that there was a combined total of 55,000 diptheria victims in England and France in 1940, when the vaccine became compulsory. By 1956, the number of cases had been reduced to only 51.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Horrible Histories:Gorgeous Georgians:The 4 Georges "Born To Rule"
In Horrible Histories:Gorgeous Georgians:The 4 Georges "Born To Rule",The 4 Georges sing their family history as a Boy Band. You can find it fullscreen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPtYmq5qFVA .Enjoy!!!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Horrible Histories:Historical Hospital:Gorgeous Georgians:Georgian Doctor
In Horrible Histories:Historial Hospital:Gorgeous Georgians:Georgian Doctor trys to help a modern patient. It can also be found fullscreen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHXdhtH7Nc4 . Enjoy!!!
Old Cures 4
A horseshoe hung above a door is supposed to ward off evil sprits. A story tells how Saint Dunstan, when working as a blacksmith, was visited by a very strange-looking customer. He recognised him as the Devil and, when asked to place a horseshoe on the Devil's foot he hammered it so hard that the Devil promised that he would never enter a house with a horseshoe above the door if only the Saint would release him from his pain.
Unscrupulous brewers in Victorian Britain used to add sulphate of iron to their brew to give it added head in order to hide the fact that the beer had been wartered down.
It was once common for sufferers from rheumatism to carry around potatoes untill they were rotten in the belief that this would cure their affliction.
Many people once believed that storking the tail of a black cat was a good cure for a stye in the eye.
Among patent medicines that could be bought in 18th-century England were:-Tea forProlonging Life, Elixer of Life, Botanical Syrup and Nervous Cordial.
A Brazilian jungle shrub contains a substance that causes vomiting-useful in cases of poisoning.
It is believed that a snakeroot plant from the Indian forest can help overcome insomnia.
During the Middle Ages when meat was used in cooking was often rancid, the meats of the rich were often perfumed with musk, violets, roses, primroses and hawthorn flowers.
A poultice of boiled turnips was once used to cure chilblains.
A popular cosmetic used in the 18th-century was made of white lead. Unfortunately it tended to cause fatal lead-poisoning in its users.
An 18th-century charlatan sold a lotion that was guaranteed to cure stammering if speard on the tongue.
Unscrupulous brewers in Victorian Britain used to add sulphate of iron to their brew to give it added head in order to hide the fact that the beer had been wartered down.
It was once common for sufferers from rheumatism to carry around potatoes untill they were rotten in the belief that this would cure their affliction.
Many people once believed that storking the tail of a black cat was a good cure for a stye in the eye.
Among patent medicines that could be bought in 18th-century England were:-Tea forProlonging Life, Elixer of Life, Botanical Syrup and Nervous Cordial.
A Brazilian jungle shrub contains a substance that causes vomiting-useful in cases of poisoning.
It is believed that a snakeroot plant from the Indian forest can help overcome insomnia.
During the Middle Ages when meat was used in cooking was often rancid, the meats of the rich were often perfumed with musk, violets, roses, primroses and hawthorn flowers.
A poultice of boiled turnips was once used to cure chilblains.
A popular cosmetic used in the 18th-century was made of white lead. Unfortunately it tended to cause fatal lead-poisoning in its users.
An 18th-century charlatan sold a lotion that was guaranteed to cure stammering if speard on the tongue.
Old Cures 3
During the Middle Ages rings made out of coffin nails and blessed by the monarch were thought to be very effective in warding off illness. Mary The 1st was the last English monarch to perform this rite.
A 19th-century cure for smallpox involved opening the window in the patient's bedroom,encouraging gnats to enter and then shooing the insects out again to carry the disease away with them.
In medival times,a cure for toothache was to first make the gum bleed by scratching it with a splinter of wood from a tree struck by lightning and then to hammer the splinter into the tree to leave the pain behind.
Dried and powdered mole added to gin and taken 9 consecutive mornings used to be regarded as a cure for fever.
The Anglo-Saxons believed lettuce to be a cure for insomina.
An old Cornish remedy for chilblains involved standing on one's head for 15 minutes.
The swallowing of fat,live slugs was once thought of as a cure for consumption.
Every bullring in Spainhas a monument of Sir Alxander Fleming,whose discovery of penicillin has saved countless bullfighters from dying of gangrene after being gored.
A 19th-century cure for smallpox involved opening the window in the patient's bedroom,encouraging gnats to enter and then shooing the insects out again to carry the disease away with them.
In medival times,a cure for toothache was to first make the gum bleed by scratching it with a splinter of wood from a tree struck by lightning and then to hammer the splinter into the tree to leave the pain behind.
Dried and powdered mole added to gin and taken 9 consecutive mornings used to be regarded as a cure for fever.
The Anglo-Saxons believed lettuce to be a cure for insomina.
An old Cornish remedy for chilblains involved standing on one's head for 15 minutes.
The swallowing of fat,live slugs was once thought of as a cure for consumption.
Every bullring in Spainhas a monument of Sir Alxander Fleming,whose discovery of penicillin has saved countless bullfighters from dying of gangrene after being gored.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Cure For Lightning
It was once widely believed throughout Britain that a rapid recovery after being struck by lightning was obtained by burying the victimup to the neck in earth.
You Wouldn't Want To Be A Egyptain Mummy
This ebook is about how Egyptain Mummys were made. It has tons of good information. Check it out! Just type:
http://www.salariya.com/web_books/mummy/index.html
http://www.salariya.com/web_books/mummy/index.html
Info About You Wouldn't Want To Be A Egyptain Mummy(Please Read Before Reading The Ebook)!
For Info About You Wouldn't Want To Be A Egyptain Mummy,Please See This Web Site:
http://www.salariya.com/wouldnt/pages/mummy.html
This is not MY web site.
Enjoy the ebook!!!
http://www.salariya.com/wouldnt/pages/mummy.html
This is not MY web site.
Enjoy the ebook!!!
Horrible Histories:Awful Egyptains:The Mummy Song
This song is about how Ancient Egyptain Mummys were made. You can also find it fullscreen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMs_IGKxMu0 . Enjoy!!!
About Horrible Histories:Awful Egyptains:Shouty Man:Ancient Egyptain Mummy(Below)
I really like Horrible Histories! This is a little clip about Ancient Egyptain Mummys. Some of it is how mummys were used as medicine in the 1800s. You can also find it fullscreen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aNc5ijaHYs . Enjoy!!!
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