Medicine Through Time

Question 1

What are the 8 factors that helped or hindered medicine?

Answer 1

War, Science and Technology, Government, Religion and Superstition, Individual Genius, Chance, Conservative Attitudes, Attitudes of Enquiry.

Question 2

Who discovered the vaccine for smallpox?

Answer 2

Edward Jenner

Question 3

When was the smallpox vaccine discovered?

Answer 3

1798

Question 4

What is the difference between an inoculation and a vaccine?

Answer 4

An inoculation would give you the full disease compared to a vaccine that would give you a weakened version of the disease.

Question 5

What was an inoculation?

Answer 5

An inoculation was putting a sample of smallpox onto an open wound giving them an immunity.

Question 6

What factor links to the finding of the smallpox vaccine? And why?

Answer 6

Chance, as Jenner managed to connect that the milkmaids who contracted cowpox (a weaker version of smallpox) didn’t contract smallpox, he then researched and made a vaccine against smallpox. Administered to James Phipps the 1st ever receiver of a vaccine.

Question 7

Was the smallpox vaccine accepted immediately? And why?

Answer 7

People had their reservations towards receiving a disease from an animal. They also believed that smallpox was a punishment for sins and the only cure is prayer or living a godly life.

Question 8

When did a massive outbreak of smallpox cause the government to make vaccinations compulsory?

Answer 8

1872

Question 9

How many people died in a massive smallpox outbreak in the early 1880s?

Answer 9

Around 400 million people died

Question 10

When was the ‘Germ Theory’ created? And by who?

Answer 10

The ‘Germ Theory’ was found in 1864 by Louis Pasteur

Question 11

What was the idea about germs before the ‘Germ Theory’?

Answer 11

Scientists knew germs existed but believed they were the result of decaying matter, this theory was called ‘Spontaneous Generation’ they didn’t realise germs were the things that caused things to go bad.

Question 12

What was miasma?

Answer 12

The idea that disease is caused through bad smells in the air.

Question 13

What was the difference between the work of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch?

Answer 13

Louis Pasteur showed a connection between germs and decay and disease. Koch managed to link a particular germ or microbe to a specific disease.

Question 14

Name 4 diseases that Koch was able to identify by dying specific germs.

Answer 14

Tuberculosis (TB), 1882.
Cholera, 1883.
Typhoid (1882).
Pneumonia (1886).

Question 15

What war was happening at the time that Pasteur and Koch were developing their research?

Answer 15

The Franco-Prussian war (Germany (Koch) vs. France (Pasteur)). 1870-71

Question 16

What else did Pasteur discover?

Answer 16

He discovered how vaccines worked and developed one for cholera and anthrax.

Question 17

What was a magic bullet?

Answer 17

A magic bullet was a type of chemical that killed a specific germ without harming the rest of the body.

Question 18

When was the magic bullet for syphilis found? By who? And what was it called?

Answer 18

A cure for syphilis was found in 1889 by Paul Ehrlich. It was called ‘Salvarsan 606’

Question 19

What did an antibiotic do?

Answer 19

An antibiotic prevented or killed bacteria that was growing.

Question 20

What discovered Penicillin? And When was it discovered?

Answer 20

Penicillin was ‘discovered’ (Penicillin is a natural substance so was found not discovered) by Alexander Fleming in 1928.

Question 21

What was wrong with penicillin?

Answer 21

Penicillin was a mould juice, and to be used practically it would have to be turned into a pure drug.

Question 22

Who were Florey and Chain?

Answer 22

Florey and Chain were able to make small quantities of penicillin in powdered form.

Question 23

When did the mass production of penicillin occur?

Answer 23

In 1941. Flory and Chain moved to America after funding was denied as they were too busy producing explosives. America had just entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbour, and made grants available for them to buy and produce penicillin. Shortly after in 1843 mass production began in the UK.