The history of vaccination and its opponentsToday, vaccines such as those against Corona are being developed at a record pace. For more than 200 years, researchers have been working on vaccines to protect against deadly infectious diseases. Since then, they have always faced skeptics. Opponents of vaccination.
The history of vaccination begins with the fight against smallpox. The dangerous smallpox has been around for thousands of years, and in northern Europe the droplet-borne viral infection began spreading in the 7th century. In the nineteenth century among the Vikings from. The epidemic ravages the continent for centuries, killing millions of people. Still in the 18. In the nineteenth century, babies in particular died from the pustular rash on their faces, arms and legs, as well as from high fever.
Edward Jenner develops vaccine against smallpox
That's why there are always attempts to immunize people with smallpox. The scientific breakthrough in the form of a vaccine did not come until 1796, when English physician Edward Jenner infected a boy with cowpox – via a cut to the upper arm. Since there were no injections yet, the physician scratched the pathogens under the skin. What was then tantamount to a human experiment is a milestone in the fight against the dreaded disease, because the child is now immune to human smallpox. Jenner calls the vaccine "Vaccine". This is the origin of the current term for vaccination: Vaccination. In 1798, the Briton publishes his research results – the effectiveness of smallpox vaccination is proven.
Great skepticism about vaccination leads to the Reich Vaccination Law and compulsory vaccination
For a long time the German population has been extremely skeptical about such experiments. There are rumors that vaccines can turn people into cows, for example. Then as now, vaccination is federally regulated. On 26. August 1807 Bavaria becomes the first state in the world to introduce compulsory vaccination. Other German states are following suit. When a severe smallpox epidemic breaks out in Germany in 1871, around 180 people die.000 people. Subsequently, the state under Otto von Bismarck introduces compulsory vaccination in 1874 with the Imperial Vaccination Act – and thus intervenes in the life of the individual. There are vaccination centers, public health officers immunize on farms. Those who refuse vaccination face sanctions: Fines, imprisonment or even compulsory vaccination.
Vaccination compulsion calls vaccination opponents on the scene
But with compulsory vaccination, resistance grows among the population. Concerns about loss of freedom have existed since vaccination came into existence. It's not just about a prick, but about world views – and about who has control over one's own body. Then, as now, people were afraid of side effects or vaccine damage. Some see vaccination as an interference with nature or God's creation -. Compulsory vaccination is an encroachment on civil liberties. Naturopaths, anthroposophists and medical laymen question the effectiveness of smallpox vaccination in journals such as "Der Impfgegner", the central organ of the movement, in question. Immunization even prevents the body from healing itself. More and more associations mobilizing against vaccination are founded in the German Empire. By the start of the First World War, they number around 300.000 members.
Conspiracy theories have existed since vaccinations were first introduced
Even conspiracy theories exist since vaccinations exist. The U.S. vaccination opponent Eleanor McBean claims in a book that the cause of the Spanish flu was vaccinations. Although there was no flu vaccine at the time. As a result, people's willingness to be immunized against smallpox decreases. In the 20. In the twenty-first century, 500 million people still die from the smallpox. The last case of smallpox occurs in Hanover in 1972; a guest worker brings the virus infection with him from Yugoslavia. In 1976, the obligation to vaccinate against smallpox for the first time is lifted in West Germany; in 1979, the WHO declares smallpox eradicated.
Emil von Behring carries out first diphtheria vaccination
In the 19. In the 21st century, diphtheria is one of the most common causes of death among young children, with up to 50 deaths per year.000 boys and girls die from the bacterial infection of the throat and pharynx. Doctors are initially powerless against what are popularly known as the "strangler angels of children until Emil von Behring discovers a therapy based on blood sera. Robert Koch's assistant wants to fight the disease with the help of anti-toxins, which are produced by the body itself through a defense reaction. 1894 alone, passive immunization against diphtheria takes place, but the protection lasts only for a short time. Von Behring receives the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1901 for his medical services. In 1923, the first prophylactic vaccination against diphtheria can finally be carried out; in 1936, the vaccine is approved in Germany.
Lubeck tuberculosis vaccination disaster: 77 babies die
Social and hygienic conditions are typical of infectious diseases; for example, tuberculosis is considered a disease of the poor. In 1882, the bacterial pathogen is discovered by Robert Koch. But a vaccine in the form of an oral protective inoculation does not come onto the market until 1921, developed after 13 years of preliminary work by the French immunologists Albert Calmette and Camille Guerin. In 1930, the Lubeck Health Department decides to introduce vaccination of newborns. But 77 infants do not survive the tuberculosis vaccination. The reason are contaminated preparations. Those responsible in Lubeck, the physician Georg Deycke and the head of the public health department Ernst Altstaedt, must stand trial before the Grand Criminal Chamber of the Lubeck Regional Court on charges of negligent homicide and bodily injury. The greatest vaccination feat of the 20th century. The vaccine against tuberculosis of the twentieth century is not without consequences: The vaccine against tuberculosis is reintroduced only after the Second World War. The case causes such a stir that the ZDF broadcasts the "Calmette case" 1964 in the series "Criminal Court filmed.
Third Reich – Vaccination as a service to the people
Soldiers were vaccinated against typhus in order to preserve the German Reich's military capability. However, the vaccine was not satisfactorily effective. Today there is no spotted fever vaccine – treatment is with antibiotics.
In the Third Reich, there is initially a relaxation of the obligation to vaccinate. Among the Nazis there are opponents of vaccination – among them are Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Heb. They are considered to be representatives of the new German medical science, which understands vaccination as Jewish racial defilement. In the end, however, the Reich Ministry of the Armed Forces prevailed with its arguments that abolishing compulsory vaccination could damage the German Reich's effectiveness and ability to defend itself. The diphtheria vaccination, however, remains voluntary. But the social prere is high, because vaccination is understood as a service to the national community. Propaganda films to strengthen the population's willingness to be vaccinated.
Human experiments on concentration camp prisoners with spotted fever vaccine
The National Socialists work with slogans that are more convincing than any compulsory vaccination. The health authorities identify the Jewish population as the supposed main carriers of spotted fever, also called typhoid fever. Because the disease is transmitted via lice, they instrumentalize the infectious disease for racist resentment against the "Jewish parasite". To test a vaccine against typhus, Nazi doctors conduct human trials 1.The vaccine is administered to more than 000 prisoners at Buchenwald concentration camp – without their consent. Gerhard Rose, a tropical medicine specialist at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), injects high doses of infectious blood into involuntary test subjects, many of whom die during these experiments. At the research level, there are quickly doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccine, but the Nazi regime pushes production and has the vaccine supplied primarily to the Wehrmacht.
The end of World War II is also considered the end of German typhus vaccine development: In the meantime, U.S. doctors had succeeded with an antibiotic therapy against the disease, as Thomas Werther describes in his dissertation "Fleckfieberforschung im Deutschen Reich 1914 – 1945" writes.
RKI physician Rose is sentenced to life imprisonment at the Nuremberg Trials, but he is released in 1955.
Post-war period – vaccines are an important economic factor
The post-war period is initially characterized by forgetting the horrors of earlier infectious diseases. People must first be convinced of preventive measures again. The goal is the common good, with the protection of children in the foreground. The pharmaceutical industry is playing an increasingly decisive role in vaccination. The tension between the profit motive. The health of the people raises many ethical questions. The entrepreneurial risk of investing in vaccine development, however, is also acknowledged. Not every development promises success, and a lot of money can go to waste. On the other hand, there are many reservations as to whether vaccines are safe or whether the pharmaceutical companies just want to cash in quickly.
polio: No mandatory polio vaccination in the West
In the 1950s, poliomyelitis breaks out again and again like an epidemic. The highly contagious viral disease mainly affects children. In severe cases, the polio virus affects nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain, which can lead to paralysis. If the respiratory muscles fail, a tracheotomy or the "iron lung" is necessary Often the last resort. Because there are only a few devices, triage took place many decades ago – that is, not all patients can receive treatment. In contrast to the GDR, parents in West Germany are very skeptical about vaccines. In East Germany, on the other hand, the rulers recognize the danger. In 1960, they introduce compulsory polio vaccination. One year later, there are four new cases of infection in the GDR, and more than 4 in the West.500 – and no vaccine for oral vaccination.
East versus West – race of two systems
The East uses its competitive advantage for propaganda purposes. The argument: the West would be exposing its children to the disease. In 1961, GDR Deputy Prime Minister Willi Stoph offers the Federal Republic of Germany three million Soviet-produced vaccine doses. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer senses Cold War propaganda and rejects the offer. In 1962, the West begins to immunize against polio – with vaccine from the USA. Vaccinations are highly valued in the GDR, but they are also compulsory – unlike in the West. GDR citizens will be vaccinated until they are 18. Vaccinations against tetanus, tuberculosis, measles and whooping cough are given up to 20 times a year. The West relies on voluntariness, only smallpox vaccination is compulsory.
Vaccination in the relationship between the general public and the individual
Especially in children and adolescents, side effects in the form of narcolepsy accumulate after a Pandemrix vaccination.
But vaccinations aren't all blessings: In the 1960s, one in 30.000th smallpox vaccination to cause serious damage, experts estimate. Swine flu vaccination with Pandemrix can cause narcolepsy (sleep-wake disorder) in people with certain genetic predispositions. Especially in children and adolescents this rare side effect occurs in 2009 and 2010. On the whole, vaccine injuries are rare, but for those affected they are a burden. Many therefore wish for adequate compensation, as in Sweden. There, victims of narcolepsy receive compensation payments after the swine flu vaccination. Whether people should be vaccinated for themselves or for others is a dispute that has been smoldering for a good 200 years. But vaccination is also about the community, not just the individual.
There is still no vaccine against other diseases such as AIDS. There are many variants of the pathogen, the virus mutates faster than the immune system can react to it. In Europe, the once deadly immunodeficiency has lost some of its horror. It can be brought under control with good therapeutics – it is different in Africa. But vaccination research is often not understood as an international task and global project. Too short-sighted, because only global protection also means long-term security. All infections can also come back.
Corona vaccines developed at record pace
Thus, immunity at the societal level is still not self-evident today. Even polio has not yet been eradicated. And without a smallpox vaccine, more than 200 million people would have died by now, experts estimate. The Spanish flu in 1918/19 was one of the most severe influenza pandemics, killing around 50 million people worldwide. The influenza virus is not isolated until 1933, and the first influenza vaccine is launched in 1945. Today, researchers are developing vaccines much faster. The best example is the record pace during the Corona pandemic. In less than a year, several manufacturers have developed vaccines against Covid-19. Vaccination does not offer 100 percent protection, but it can prevent severe courses of the disease and reduce the transmission of the virus.
Corona prompts debate about compulsory vaccination
The record pace of vaccine development, however, contrasts with an unexpectedly high level of vaccination skepticism in Germany. Far fewer people than expected – and above all far fewer than necessary for herd immunity – have so far been immunized against Covid-19. What was categorically ruled out at the political level at the beginning of the Corona pandemic has since triggered heated controversial debates time and again: the question of whether there will ultimately be a general obligation to vaccinate against Corona in addition to the occupational vaccination obligation that has now been decided on. A compromise proposal – namely, mandatory vaccination for people 60 and older. An obligatory vaccination consultation for all adults – failed at last at a necessary majority in the Bundestag.