Introduction to the Microbial World; History of Microbiology
In response to the web site article about Edward Jenner, I believe the author paid an over emphasis on the how the discovery of the small pox vaccine was the greatest of public health achievements of all times. But I am of a different opinion. I believe that despite this great contribution, Edward Jenner does not deserve the greater credit in his discovery compared to both Louis Pasteur and Janssen & Hans.One thing I truly agree with is that the discovery by Edward Jenner was timely as small pox is now a thing of the past and the many deaths associated with the disease are now forgotten.
However, refusing to give even bigger credit to the discovery of the microscope by Janssen and Hans. Louis Pasteur is one of the fathers of modern medicine. Without his work and discoveries in the field of microbiology it is doubtful that we would have the world we have today.His work identified the causes of many diseases that were responsible for the massive child and infant mortality figures of previous centuries, and led directly to vaccination and the eradication of many diseases.
Pasteur started his work on cholera, a disease responsible for much mortality at the time. Whilst growing bacterium on eggs he grew a faulty batch that did not infect the chickens he was working with. Upon reusing these chickens with fresh bacteria he could not infect the chickens. He had accidentally discovered vaccination.The weakened bacteria had induced a mild disease that prevented the chickens from catching the full disease.
His assistant had tried to discard the faulty batch but Pasteur’s scientific mind had decided to discover what was going on. In this he was following up on the work of Edward Jenner in the 1790’s on smallpox. The difference was that Jenner had found that one disease (cowpox) prevented another (smallpox).
Pasteur had led the way to using the actual identified bacterium to prevent disease. The process was named vaccination by Pasteur in honor of Jenner’s work.This is not to mean they are the best of all time microbiologists. My regard for them is based on the interdependence their discoveries have brought about in microbiology today (Britannica, 2011). For instance, when Janssen and Hans discovery of the microscope enabled them to see smaller objects enlarged and appearing much larger than when viewed with a simple lens although in their discovery the two did not call this magnification, that is what it was and it was not just important in microbiology but also in viewing objects at a distance with little modification.
Today, life of microbiologists revolve around the microscope and the cell to discover diseases, their causes as well as assisting in the invention of cure, vaccines, control and treatment drugs. Part two: Historical significant disease epidemics One of the significant epidemics of all times is the Black Death. This disease epidemic was also known as the bubonic plague which occurred during the middle ages in the 14th century. To date, this period remains the most devastating in the history of the English countries in Europe and part of Asia.
The plague began in 1328 lasting till 1351 even though there were independently reported outbreaks for succeeding period of sixty years. The name Black Death was as a result of the blackening of the skin in places surrounding the swellings it caused. Additionally, the blood resulting from the blackened skin was thick and black with a greenish scum in the mixture.
One most acceptable theory about the cause of the disease was that it resulted from bad air resulting from great air pestilence (Britannica 2013).This theory was somehow true because the final discovery associated it with human fleas that had been carried by rats as well as other small rodents. This was true because during high harvests of especially cereal grains, the outbreaks were severe and the disease heightened killing very many persons. Additionally, the distribution of the disease was seen to follow the trade routes for every country where trade was common.
The disease causing human fleas were discovered to transmit a pathogen by the name of Yersinia Pestis or Y.Pestis provided the flea had previously bitten an infected rats or person. The disease was first believed to originate from the Gobi desert in China, Asia. Since this outbreak in China, about 7,500 persons were dying on daily basis and this cost the Chinese population a population of about 35 million persons in a period of about 50 years (Aberth, 2005). The population statistics during this time dropped from 125 million to about 90 million persons.
The Asian, Middle East and Europe outbreaks is associated mostly with international trade.After the discovery the disease in Asia, traders and Mongol armies with and without infections went via ships to the Europe continent by 1346. In Europe, the disease spread to France, Spain, Portugal and England among others and later spread to Middle East via traders and other forms of migrations. Despite efforts like strapping live chicken around the buboes, and others like carrying sweet smelling flowers or herbs, no cure was discovered for the plague (Aberth, 2005).The only way people used to control further spread was by turning away ships suspected to carry infected persons from infected areas. Plague victims were also quarantined and those who died buried in separate cemeteries.
The psychological effects of the Black Death were reflected north of the Alps (not in Italy) by a preoccupation with death and the afterlife evinced in poetry, sculpture, and painting; the Roman Catholic Church lost some of its monopoly over the salvation of souls as people turned to mysticism and sometimes to excesses (Britannica 2013).References http:/www. helium. com/items/854517-louis-pasteurs-contributions-to-medical-microbiology? page=2 http:/www. history-of-the-microscope. org/hans-and-zacharias-jansen-microscope-history. php http:/www.
britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/67758/Black-Death Aberth, J., (2005). The Black Death of 1348-1350. Palgrave Macmillan.