Defeating the ministers of death : the compelling history of vaccination

Resource Information

The work Defeating the ministers of death : the compelling history of vaccination represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Randwick City Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Defeating the ministers of death : the compelling history of vaccination

Title remainder

the compelling history of vaccination

Statement of responsibility

David Isaacs

Creator

• Isaacs, David

Author

• Isaacs, David

Subject

• Communicable diseases -- Prevention | History
• Immunisation -- History
• Vaccination -- History
• Vaccines -- History

Language

eng

Summary

In 1919, Spanish flu killed over 50 million people, more than died in both world wars combined. In 1950, an estimated 50 million people caught smallpox worldwide, of whom 10 million died. In 1980, before measles vaccine was widely used, an estimated 2.6 million children died of measles every year. Less than 100 years ago, losing a child to an infection like diphtheria or polio was a dreaded but almost inevitable sorrow faced by all parents, from the richest to the poorest. Today, these killer diseases are almost never seen in industrialised countries, thanks to the development of vaccines. Immunisation has given modern parents peace of mind their ancestors could not imagine. The history of vaccination is rich with trial, error, sabotage and success. It encompasses the tragedy of lives lost, the drama of competition and discovery, the culpability of botched testing, and the triumph of effective, lifelong immunity

Cataloging source

QNLS

Dewey number

614.47

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary form

non fiction

Target audience

adult