History of immunology

Todays lecture is not from our text book .

The immune system is very important for human lives ; it protects us against infections and it is important in tumor fighting. Cancer protection is mediated by the immune system .

The word immunology means :

logy : means studying immuno : from the word immunatus (G) : means the protection given to parliaments , which means that the person is protected against some diseases .

Older History - 1

Pharos's Wasp Sting in Papyrus Anaphylaxis

The first written documented probable immunological phenomena was written in the Phaross ages (3000 B.C) when a Pharos died after he got a sting by a wasp ( like a bee ) and he had severe reactions and died ( allergic phenomena )

Older History - 2

The Muslim Arabs during the middle ages really contributed via licensing and experimental methods and were the first to do experiments and observed what happened . Avicenna => he is the first person to describe the smallpox , and he noted if someone survived the disease hell never get it again . *After exposure to a disease a person will become immune to it .

Muslim Arabs contributions Licensing and Experimental methods Avicenna ( ) describes Smallpox and states that if someone survives the disease he never gets it again

So he concluded that the best person to deal and take care of a smallpox patient is a previous smallpox patient who has recovered from it ( because he wont get it again ) .

This picture shows smallpox . It is a very bad disease It is a DNA virus It is transmitted via air ( the worst way for a virus to be transmitted ) which mean it can be very easily transmitted from one person to another .

It has mortality rate around 40% which means that from every 10 persons affected 4 dyes , and 100% have these blisters and disfigurations specially on his face and hands - Many patient with smallpox become blind or deaf beside these disfigurations .

Viruses can be transmitted through: Air ( the worst way) Water Eat Touch Blood ( for weak viruses) etc

 We have to differentiate between smallpox and chickenpox : \ - smallpox is sever and very strong and it doesnt hide itself ; it will show itself on the face and hands of the patient . - chickenpox appears under clothes ( in the covered areas of the body ) usually it is said to be weak disease . - after the second world war the WHO ( world health organization ) started a campaign against smallpox and they vaccinated everybody in the world at that time ( 1945- 1946 ) and the last appearance for smallpox in the world was in 1977 and since then we havent seen any cases of smallpox .

Edward Jenner an English scientist

He noted that the milk mates were trying to transmit the infection of the cowpox which appears on these cows for themselves because they believed that if they get exposed to the cowpox they will be protected against smallpox .

From this note he came up with the idea of vaccination ( Vacca => to make someone a cow ) => So He is the first one to do vaccination . He deliberately inoculated his son or one of his relatives with a cowpox many times then he inoculated him with smallpox and he proved that the child is immuned against it .

The beginnings of the current medicine started with:

Beginings

Microscopes Germ Theory Genes and DNA

- the discovery of microscopes by ( EVAN-Hock ) - Germ theory - Genes and DNA and by these we developed better understanding to the immune system .

Koch and Pasture

In the ( 1860s-1880s ) Robert Koch & Lewis Pasture two big famous scientists who started to notice the germ theory : there is small organisms and tiny little creatures which causing diseases and infections to us .

So they come up with the koch pastulate : a disease may be due to small micro organism ,if the organism is there and you transmitted it to another person if the disease is transmitted so this is a prove that this disease is due to microbiological substances or organisms . * So germs can cause diseases .

Karl Landsteiner \ German hematologist

Karl Landsteiner

Describes the blood groups ( A\B\O\AB) He noted that the serum of a person according to his blood groups will have antibodies (against the existing blood groups ) Blood group Antibodies O Anti A &Anti B AB No antibodies A Anti B B Anti A

- he was the first person to put the land marks for blood transfusion ( the first form of transplantation ) - 30 years later, he worked with Coomes ; both described the Rh blood groups . - He stated that : immunity and resistance to the infections is mediated by the serum , and he started one branch of medicine Serology ( humeral immunity\ mixture of substances .

Metcknikoff

Metckinkoff : - he is the first person to see phagocytosis ( usually WBCs they have sodofeets to engulf a bacteria and eat it ) - he stated that : it is not the serum that is important in the fight against micro-organisms but it is the cells that is the important .

- And he is the first to stress the importance of cell mediated immunity: that cells are actually what mediate immunity .

- So there was an argument between scientists ( 1920s-1960s) whereas the immunity is mediated by serum and serology ( which is humeral) OR it is cellular immunity .

New Developments

Antibodies Genetics Tosongawa HIV and AIDS

- From 1980s up to now AIDS and HIV infection have the biggest push for newer developments in the understanding of immunology . - There is a lot of diseases associated with AIDS and these are due to failure of the immune system due to the attack of the Human Immune Deficiency Virus HIV . - So this disease which was first described in 1980 in America was the biggest impulse recently to understand how the immune system works , it tells you that although it is not directly related like the cardiovascular or the respiratory systems dysfunctions ; which means that if it fails you dont die immediately but you cannot live If it( the immune system) weakened .

CWT