Small studies found that smallpox vaccines during the Civil War were genetically similar

Scientists around the world are currently working hard to develop an effective vaccine against COVID-19, The lives of nearly 600,000 people All over the world (and counting). Meanwhile, collaboration between historians with scientists at McMaster University, University of Sydney Mothers Museum At Philadelphia, we look to the past for potential clues. They analyzed the genome of a smallpox virus fragment used in a vaccine during the Civil War, New paper Published in the journal Genome Biology.

“Understanding the history, evolution, and how these viruses act as vaccines is very important in our time.” Evolutionary geneticist Hendrick Poiner said, Director of McMaster Ancient DNA Center, Basis for Research Basis. “This study points out the importance of examining the diversity of these vaccine strains found in the wild. We know how many vaccines can provide cross protection from a wide range of viruses such as influenza and coronaviruses.” not.”

World Health Organization declared smallpox An eradicated disease in 1979, many people don’t remember how devastating it can be. It began with high fever and severe vomiting, followed by a skin rash. The victim then develops a wound that eventually becomes a scab and falls off, damaging the skin. about 3 out of 10 These infected died and survivors were generally severely injured for life.

Chinese had vaccinated people against smallpox as early as the 1500s. European doctors in the early 18th century relied on variolation, a smallpox to induce immunity, to control the spread of smallpox. Those who received the treatment developed common smallpox symptoms such as fever and rash, but the number of deaths was significantly reduced.

By the late 1700s, a few British and German doctors found that people with milder cowpox appeared to be immune to smallpox, and humans had undergone some early vaccination tests. I noticed. For example, in 1774, a farmer in Dorset, England, named Benjamin Jestie, succeeded in vaccinating his wife and children with cowpox. But it was the British doctor Edward Jenner Who is trusted By incorporating smallpox vaccine into mainstream medical practice.

Jenner too Noticed Milk infected with cowpox was largely unaffected by smallpox. So, on May 14, 1796, he scraped pus from cowpox blisters with the help of a nanny named Sarah Nermes. (Blossom, cow hide with Nermes cowpox, is on display at the Library of Medicine in St. George.) He then rubbed a boy named James Phipps, the son of the gardener, with a slight fever. did. However, there is no serious illness. He then exposed the boy to the chickenpox virus several times, but the young Phipps never developed smallpox. Jenner tested his method on 23 additional subjects, including his one-year-old son, Robert, before publishing the findings. By 1840, the British government had banned variations and offered the cowpox vaccine to the general public free of charge.

Between American Civil War (1861-1865), smallpox turned out to be a tragedy that struck both Union and Confederate forces. In addition to quarantine and burning of infected clothing and blankets, soldiers on both sides of the conflict had to be vaccinated against smallpox to control the spread of the disease. In fact, this demand was often hurriedly neglected to recruit new soldiers, but it still curtailed a fatal outbreak and led to the spread of the smallpox vaccine to American civilians after the war ended. It was The crust was usually taken from infected children, soldiers, and even the cow’s own smallpox and sent to military surgeons. (To One notable instance, Skin was collected from an infamous young woman infected with syphilis, which spread the STD to soldiers vaccinated with the substance. )

According to the authors of this latest study, Philadelphia was the second largest hospital city to service the influx of victims. of Mothers Museum-The true mecca of Pathologically curious-Founded in 1863, it houses a variety of medical supplies and specimens for research and education, including smallpox vaccine kits and related equipment. The latter included a collapsible lancet, a small glass plate used to mix fluids, and a tin box to hold the scab material. The museum provided five vaccination kits from the mid to late 19th century for research. The four kits were leather roll-up variations. The fifth included a tool known as an “automatic vaccination machine”.

Scientists collected nine specimens of viral fragments from five kits, reconstructed and analyzed their genomes. (Non-destructive sampling of artifacts that did not show any obvious signs of biological residues could also restore viral fragments.) The goal was a civil war vaccine within the class of poxviruses. As a whole was to outline the evolutionary relationships of the smallpox viruses used.

The results showed that a specific strain of the virus (VACV) was pre- 20th century epidemic and was closely associated with a commercial vaccinated strain manufactured in Philadelphia in 1902. In other words, there was generally little diversity among the stocks. It was used by local doctors during the Civil War, despite the fact that there was no standardization of the vaccine for more than a century.

Furthermore, the vaccinia strain used for vaccination was far associated with the virus that causes smallpox. The authors believe that the low incidence of mutations is the reason for providing protection against smallpox. This provides a useful clue as to how close the vaccine, evolutionally speaking, should be to the disease-causing virus in order to be effective in preventing the disease.

The researchers also noted similarities in kit construction and content that were custom made and not available in the catalog at the time. “There was common wisdom about how vaccination was done in this particular era,” they conclude. “Surely, the similarity of virus strains from these five Civil War era kits, as well as from the 1902 strain, could indicate that there was a common source of material in the Philadelphia area. Suggests.”

The authors believe that their study points the way to a new non-destructive approach to studying medical history. “Vaccination is a wonderful process with a rich medical history that we should celebrate.” Co-author Ana DaganI am currently in the Canadian Public Health Service. “The Medical Museum is an incredible repository of our past and our history. The new tools developed in this work will show you how medical sources, procedures and techniques change over time. You can investigate what you did.”

DOI: Genome Biology, 2020. 10.1186 / s13059-020-02079-z (About DOI).