Faced with the occurrence of several cases of monkeypox in May 2022, the question of the smallpox vaccine is coming up again. It would be 85% effective against this form of smallpox according to the Pasteur Institute. Who invented it? When ? Is it still available in France? Mandatory ? We take stock.
The control then theeradication of smallpox in 1980 were obtained by the widespread vaccination of the population. The smallpox vaccine was compulsory in France until 1979. Vaccination was then stopped, but several countries including France have kept stocks of smallpox vaccines and production capacity for the traditional vaccine, recalled the National Institute for Health Surveillance (INVS) in 2001. This vaccine includes important side effects and contraindications. What is the date release of the first smallpox vaccine? Who is the inventor ? What are the contraindications of the vaccine? What is the situation in France ? Is it effective against monkey pox ?
Definition: what is the smallpox vaccine?
The smallpox virus belongs to the group of orthopoxvirus. This group includes, in addition to the smallpox virus, 3 viruses transmissible to humans, the vaccinia virus (virus that affects cows) which is used in the vaccine (similar to smallpox but less harmful). The smallpox vaccine is thus a live attenuated virus vaccine. It is prepared from different strains of vaccinia virus. The strain available in France is the Lister strain, called “historical”. Smallpox vaccines have been used without having been clinically tested control. “However the epidemiological impact of vaccination following its introduction in the early 19th century and the eventual eradication of the virus represent the best evidence of its effectiveness” underlined the INVS.
When was the smallpox vaccine invented?
English surgeon Edward Jenner (1749-1823) developed the smallpox vaccine in 1796. Smallpox was the first vaccination in human history, long before Pasteur. The first vaccinations in France took place in 1799 (150,000 in 1806 to 750,000 in 1812).
Who discovered the smallpox vaccine?
The English surgeon Edward Jenner discovered the smallpox vaccine.
What is the name of the smallpox vaccine?
Two vaccines were available in France, the vaccine manufactured until the 1980s by the Institut vaccinal du Docteur Pourquier (Vaccin antivariolique lyophilisé de l’institut vaccinal du Docteur Pourquier dit “Pourquier Vaccine”) and the vaccine manufactured by Aventis-Pasteur (purified and stabilized liquid smallpox vaccine called ” Aventis vaccine “). The mode of injection validated by the experts is injection by needle for these two vaccines
Do we still vaccinate against smallpox in France?
The total eradication of smallpox was officially declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1980, when vaccinations were finally stopped. In France, vaccination was officially discontinued for children in 1979. Today, vaccination against smallpox is recommended only for those at high risksuch as laboratory and health care personnel who work with smallpox virus or related materials.
Was the smallpox vaccine compulsory?
In France, vaccination against smallpox was compulsory from 1901 to 1979 remind him Ministry of Health. On this date, it was decided to no longer impose primary vaccination against smallpox (Law 79-520 of July 2, 1979) before finally completely abolish the obligation of vaccination in 1984 (Law 84-404 of May 30, 1984) long after the occurrence of the last case of smallpox in the world (1977 in Somalia) and when all the countries adhering to the WHO also decided to stop systematically vaccinating against this disease . However, the possibility of having recourse to it has been retained thanks to a regulatory text which indicates that:in the event of war, public calamity, epidemic or threat of an epidemic, vaccination or re-vaccination against smallpox may be made compulsory by decree or by prefectural orders for anyone, regardless of age“.
What are the side effects of the smallpox vaccine?
“The risk of sometimes serious side effects following smallpox vaccination makes it necessary to establish the benefit/risk ratio of vaccination for each vaccine candidate. recalled the Ministry of Health in 2006. Smallpox vaccines “induce adverse effects, some of which jeopardize the patient’s life or are responsible for significant serious sequelae like many vaccines manufactured at that time”. Serious side effects affect approximately 1 in 10,000 people, and death affects 1 or 2 people per million. Among the side effects are:
- encephalitis and encephalopathy: fever, headache, vomiting, drowsinesssometimes spastic paralysis, meningeal signs, convulsions, or even a coma.
- The rash of a vaccinal eczema.
- The “progressive vaccine”: the vaccinal lesion does not heal, it necroses. Secondary lesions appear all over the body, become infected and also become necrotic. The mortality linked to this complication is around 50%. This complication mainly occurs in immunocompromised subjects.
- A blister rash, appearing 6-9 days after vaccination.
- L’accidental inoculation : From the vaccinal lesion, lesions may appear at a distance, following scratching of the initial lesion. The most common locations are the eye and the perineum.
What are the contraindications for the smallpox vaccine?
Vaccination is dangerous for some people, especially those with immune system is weakened (e.g. people with AIDS, those taking drugs that suppress the immune system or immunocompromised), those suffering from a skin disease (especially eczema), those with eye inflammation and the pregnant women.
Is the smallpox vaccine effective against monkeypox?
“There is no specific treatment or vaccine even if the smallpox vaccination has been shown to be very effective in preventing monkeypox as well” underlines the WHO. There is no vaccine against Monkeypox but that against smallpox would 85% effective according to’Pastor Institute. The High Council of Public Health recalls that the protective effects of the vaccine disappear after 10 years.
Sources:
– Use of the smallpox virus as a biological weapon. INVS, October 25, 2001.
— Smallpox Vaccine, Jun 2021, The Merck Manuals
– Smallpox Prevention and Treatment, CDC
– Opinion on the revision of the smallpox plan, High Council for Public Health, 21 December 2012
– Pastor Institute