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( Artificial induction of immunity)
Immunity against infections that can cause serious illness is generally beneficial. Since Pasteur provided support for a germ theory of infectious disease, we have increasingly induced immunity against a widening range of diseases to prevent the associated risks from the wild infections. It is hoped that further understanding of the molecular basis of immunity will translate to improved clinical practice in the future. This article places the development of techniques in historical and logical sequence and points to detailed articles on each of the main topics. The earliest recorded artificial induction of immunity in humans was by variolation or inoculation, which is the controlled infection of a less lethal natural form of smallpox (known as Variola Minor) into a subject to make him or her immune to re-infection with the more lethal natural form, Variola Major. This was practiced in ancient times in China and India, and imported into Europe, via Turkey, around 1720 by Lady Montagu and perhaps others. From England, the technique spread rapidly to the Colonies, and was also spread by African slaves arriving into Boston.[1] [2] Variolation had the disadvantage that the inoculating agent used, Variola Minor, was still an active form of smallpox and, although less potent, could still kill the inoculee or spread in its full form to others nearby. However, as the risk of death from inoculation with Variola Minor was just 1% to 2%, as compared to the 20% risk of death from the natural form of smallpox, the risks of inoculation were generally considered acceptable.
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