A vaccine is a biological product that is intended to protect humans from bacterial and viral
illnesses. They are also known as immunizations since they rely on our natural immune
system's ability to protect us against infectious diseases. Vaccines contain weakened or
inactive components of a certain organism (antigen), which causes an immunological reaction
in the body (Winchester hospital. 2017).
Vaccines save millions of lives each year and the measles vaccine was created to do just that
Measles is one of the most contagious viral disease diseases ever encountered by humans. It
is an ancient disease that was first documented in the 9th century by Persian physician and
scholar Abu Bakr Muhammad Zakariya Razi. Despite the existence of a reliable and effective
vaccine, measles continues to be a leading cause of infant mortality worldwide and can have
catastrophic side effects include blindness, pneumonia, and encephalitis (World Health
Organization. nd). Measles incubation lasts 11 to 12 days after prodrome exposure, with a
range of 7 to 21 days. The average time between exposure and rash onset is 14 days, with a
range of 7 to 21 days. The prodrome lasts 2 to 4 days, with a possible duration of 1 to 7 days.
It is distinguished by a gradual increase in fever, which can reach 103F to 105F, a cough,
and conjunctivitis (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.org, 2021).
As global exploration increased in the 16th century, it became more widespread. Measles had
long become endemic over the world before immunization, and it continues as s worldwide
epidemic disease. However, in 1757, Scottish doctor Francis Home discovered that measles
was caused by a pathogen. He used the blood of infected patients to infect healthy people
with the disease and proved that it was caused by an infectious substance. Worldwide, there
are 30 million cases of measles and 2 million deaths from measles each year.
The measles vaccine was discovered by John Franklyn Enders, who is referred to as the
father of modern vaccine and he developed the vaccine from Edmonton B'- strain from 1958
to 1960. Enders and his colleagues tested their measles vaccine on small groups of children
before initiating trials on thousands of youngsters in New York City and Nigeria. Individual
nations began major vaccination campaigns against measles at the national level in the 1960s,
and also the first internationally focused measles immunization campaigns began in Africa in
1966. It was acclaimed as 100 percent effective in 1961, and the very first measles vaccine
was approved for public use in 1963 (World health Organization, nd). It was later withdrawn in 1975 because it did not protect well against measles. Hilleman combined the newly
produced vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella into the MMR vaccine, which was
administered as a single injection with one booster dose - and in 2005, the varicella vaccine
was added to create the combination MMRV vaccine.
The measles vaccine boosts the immune system's reaction by exposing it to antigens, which
are weakened versions of th