Vaccines

Hilleman's one-year-old daughter Kirsten (center, with her sister Jeryl Lynn and Dr. Robert Weibel) became the first to receive the mumps vaccine.

You Should Thank Maurice Hilleman for Helping You Live Past the Age of 10

A new Smithsonian podcast tells the story of the “Greatest Scientist of the 20th Century”

Can Social Media Help Us Spot Vaccine Scares and Predict Outbreaks?

Tracking public sentiment toward vaccines could allow public health officials to identify and target areas of heightened disease risk

Thought leaders gathered at the National Museum of Natural History to discuss the past, present and future of the flu.

When the Next Pandemic Hits, Will We Be Prepared?

The question isn’t whether a pandemic will strike—it’s how it will play out.

Watch: Experts Discuss "The Next Pandemic: Are We Prepared?"

Thought leaders gathered at the National Museum of Natural History on November 13 to discuss the past, present and future of the flu

The microneedle patch being applied.

Needle-Free Patch Makes Vaccination as Easy as Putting on a Band-Aid

The new product could be available in about five years, scientists say

Pasteur took blood samples from a cow, a sheep and a horse who had died of anthrax.

How Sheep's Blood Helped Disprove This Wacky Nineteenth-Century Theory of Illness

Scientists didn't understand that bacteria caused disease, but then enter Louis Pasteur

A new vaccine is ready for action in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Democratic Republic of Congo Approves Ebola Vaccine

It’s the newest tool in health workers’ arsenal against the contagious virus

A field hospital in Virginia, photographed in 1862, shows the grim conditions during the Civil War.

Fearing a Smallpox Epidemic, Civil War Troops Tried to Self-Vaccinate

People knew that inoculation could prevent you from catching smallpox. It was how Civil War soldiers did it that caused problems

Ensilicated proteins

Keeping Vaccines Safe in Tiny "Cages"

By encasing vaccines in silica, researchers could eliminate the need to refrigerate them during transportation

A baby in Ghana rests underneath a mosquito net. Ghana will become one of three African countries to pilot the new malaria vaccine in 2018.

Hundreds of Thousands of Babies Will Receive World’s First Malaria Vaccine

The pilot program will focus on Kenya, Ghana and Malawi—countries at the center of the global malaria crisis

This 1976 photograph shows a woman receiving a vaccination during the nationwide swine flu vaccination campaign.

The Long Shadow of the 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine 'Fiasco'

Some, but not all, of the hesitance to embrace vaccines can be traced back to this event more than 40 years ago

President Franklin D. Roosevelt exits a car during a campaign stop in California. Roosevelt was the first U.S. president with a visible disability, caused by polio.

People Mailed Dimes 'By The Truck Load' to FDR's White House to Cure Polio

He was America’s first and only president with a visible—and known—disability

Vaccine Switch Marks a New (and Hopefully Last) Stage in the Battle With Polio

Over the weekend, health officials began replacing the current polio vaccination in an effort to wipe out one of three strains of the virus

Anthony Fauci is America's point person in confronting epidemics.

Anthony Fauci Is Waging War Against Zika, and Preparing for Other Epidemics to Come

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases talks about developing a Zika vaccine

The Tribeca Film Festival injected even more controversy into the anti-vaccine "debate" when it decided to show a film by the movement's most polarizing figure.

UPDATE: The Tribeca Film Festival Changes Course, Will Not Screen Film About the Discredited Anti-Vaxx Movement

The controversy shows the film isn't immune to unfounded fears about vaccination

Bottle of Diphtheria Anti-Toxin in Case, 1900s

How Vaccines, a Collective Triumph of Modern Medicine, Conquered the World's Diseases

Smithsonian curators present a virtual tour of several objects from the collections that revolutionized public health care

An illustration of the dengue virus, which is transmitted by mosquito bites.

A Single Protein Is the Root of Dengue's Virulence

But researchers who found the culprit say it could be a clue in developing a vaccine for the mosquito-borne virus

An actor, playing the role of a vaccine against Ebola, performs at a school in Abidja, Ivory Coast, last September

Experimental Ebola Vaccine Gives 100 Percent Protection in Trial

An unusual trial design helped prove the vaccine safe and effective in less than a year

Malaria infected blood cells (blue)

The First Malaria Vaccine Could Be Released Soon

The vaccine isn’t as effective as hoped however, and needs several more approvals

A stained tissue sample from 1967 reveals the presence of Chlamydia psittaci bacteria.

The Mystery of the Failed Chlamydia Vaccine

In the 1960s, a vaccine for chlamydia made patients more susceptible to chlamydia. Now scientists know why

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