Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Aug 26;111(34):12283-7.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1400472111. Epub 2014 Aug 18.

History of vaccination

Affiliations

History of vaccination

Stanley Plotkin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Vaccines have a history that started late in the 18th century. From the late 19th century, vaccines could be developed in the laboratory. However, in the 20th century, it became possible to develop vaccines based on immunologic markers. In the 21st century, molecular biology permits vaccine development that was not possible before.

Keywords: genetic engineering; killed vaccines; live vaccine; proteins.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Plotkin SA. History of Vaccine Development. New York: Springer; 2011.
    1. Artenstein AW, editor. Vaccines, a Biography. New York: Springer; 2010.
    1. Plotkin SL, Plotkin SA. A short history of vaccination. In: Plotkin SA, Orenstein WA, Offit PA, editors. Vaccines. 6th Ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier-Saunders; 2013. pp. 1–13.
    1. Plotkin SA, Plotkin SL. The development of vaccines: how the past led to the future. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2011;9(12):889–893. - PubMed
    1. Bazin H. Vaccination: A History, from Lady Montagu to Genetic Engineering. Esher, UK: John Libbey Eurotext; 2011.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources