Abstract
To this day, smallpox is the only disease confirmed to be eradicated worldwide. This would not have been possible without the first widely utilized vaccine developed nearly 200 years prior by Edward Jenner. Inspired by Jenner’s methodology of using the cowpox virus to protect against smallpox in humans, vaccine innovations and their significance to public health took off after Louis Pasteur’s discovery of the rabies vaccine in 1885. Vaccines are perhaps the greatest immunological feat to this day. So why are people still so averse to getting vaccinated, especially for the flu? Encouraging people to get their annual flu shot and persuading the public of its effectiveness are two vital measures for preventing flu-related hospitalizations and deaths.
Recommended Citation
Godschall, Lizzie
(2019)
"Necessity of Receiving the Flu Vaccine and Recent Research Trials,"
Osmosis Magazine: Vol. 2019:
Iss.
1, Article 7.
Available at:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/osmosis/vol2019/iss1/7