In history, humanity faced many deadly epidemic diseases such as plague, smallpox and malaria, and suffered heavy losses because there was no known effective treatment and protection method. In ancient Central Asia, the Turks used the material they took from the lesions of smallpox patients, put them in hazelnut shells, dried them in the sun, and then applied them to the skin of healthy individuals. Subsequently, deaths from smallpox have decreased or there have been survivors of the disease. This practice was carried to Anatolia by the Turks. Smallpox vaccination has continued as a tradition in the Ottoman Empire since the 1600s. The material taken from smallpox patients was applied to the skin of healthy children with the help of a needle, and the deaths due to the disease were reduced, or it was provided to be lighter. The successful results of smallpox vaccination caught the attention of Lady Montagu, the wife of a British diplomat, and in the letter she wrote to her relatives in England, she mentioned that this disease was prevented by a method called smallpox vaccination, and stated that she wanted vaccination in her country as well. As a result of long efforts, the king, the church and the English doctors were convinced and the way for vaccine studies was opened in England. Because of her pioneering in this development, a monument was erected in 1789 in the name of Lady Montagu, and an inscription was put on her bringing the Art of Smallpox Vaccination from Turkey.
With the rabies vaccine developed by the Ottomans with the support of the French Louis Pasteur, deaths from rabies were prevented. . In the same period, vaccine production started in Istanbul, and vaccines for scarlet fever, typhoid, dysentery, plague, and cholera were produced and applied. Vaccine development and use studies of the Turks have made very important contributions to the prevention of diseases and deaths. hospitalizations and deaths can be prevented. The best example of this has been seen in the deadly smallpox. What is fatal is blindness in the survivors Smallpox, which has serious consequences such as smallpox, has disappeared with vaccination studies and has not been seen since 1977. (The reason why the deceased Aşık Veysel lost his eyesight was smallpox)
In addition, vaccine side effects have decreased to negligible levels, and confidence in the vaccine and patient compliance have increased.
With the recent vaccination studies, Polio and measles are on the verge of disappearing. However, these targets have been delayed due to the increasing mobile population where the vaccine cannot be delivered.
In order for the vaccination program to be successful, it is necessary for everyone to get vaccinated except for a small number of individuals who cannot be vaccinated, whose immunity is weakened, who have an extreme allergic reaction or who cannot be reached. The fact that the majority has been vaccinated does not guarantee that those who have not been vaccinated will not get sick. For this reason, as the number of people who do not get vaccinated increases, disease agents continue to circulate in the society. Since children with congenitally weak immunity or subsequently weakened immunity cannot be vaccinated, the probability of getting the disease increases and the consequences can be very severe. We should see vaccination as a contribution to public health. We should volunteer for the health of our children, who are the future of our country.
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