Important Milestones in Infectious Diseases Clinical Trials: A Timeline of Infectious Disease Research

Understanding infectious diseases is a critical concern in today’s world. Thanks to globalization a person can traverse the globe in a day – but a virus can travel just as quickly. A virus that is not known or understood could spread like wildfire and cause the entire world to effectively shut down in a matter of months (i.e., COVID-19).

In this article, we will review some of the important milestones in the study of infectious diseases and vaccines.

Ancient History

The first pandemic in history is the Plague of Athens. The cause is unknown, but it struck around 430 BCE and killed roughly 100,000 people. The second pandemic of note is in 541. It is called the Plague of Justinian and was caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis – better known as the Plague or Black Death. It came back in the 1340s and killed around 50 million people.

Middle Ages and Beyond

Over the next few centuries, various pandemics emerged, including tuberculosis, smallpox, and yellow fever. Between these and other diseases of the time, the average life expectancy was around 30 in the year 1800.

The Birth of Modern Medicine

In 2019, the average global life expectancy was 73 years. That increase is attributed to two factors – overcoming famine and plague. Let’s look at some of the key events that led to the latter.

1800s

1831 – Pasteur Observes Rabies
1849 – Snow Publishes Early Findings on Cholera
1854 – Pacini Links Bacterium to Cholera
1881 – Pneumococcal Bacterium Discovered
1882 – Koch Isolates and Cultures Tuberculosis Bacilli
1884 – Success with Rabies Vaccine
1885 – Ferrán’s Cholera Vaccine
1886 – Pasteur Presents Rabies Results
1896 – Basis for Typhoid Vaccination Established
1899 – Typhoid Vaccines Used in British Military

1900s

1906 – Whopping Cough Bacteria Isolated
1911 – Pneumococcal whole-cell Vaccine Tested
1914 – Typhoid Vaccination Becomes Common
1918 – Spanish Flu Outbreak
1933 – Influenza Virus Isolated
1939 – Whooping Cough Vaccine Shown Effective
1945 – Influenza Vaccine Approved
1953 – Chickenpox Virus Isolated
1960 – Rubella Virus Isolated
1961 – Start of Seventh Cholera Pandemic
1969 – First Rubella Vaccine Licensed
1981 – HIV/AIDS First Appears

2000s

2002 – SARS Outbreak
2006 – HPV Vaccine Licensed in US
2009 – Swine Flu Outbreak
2014 – West Africa Ebola Pandemic
2015 – Zika Outbreak
2017 – Yemeni Cholera Epidemic
2019 – COVID-19 Pandemic Begins
2020 – COVID-19 vaccine approved

Infectious Disease Research Going Forward

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves with vaccinations and variants, the world is watching, but there are other infectious diseases that are still around and still infecting. The medicine around vaccines and infectious disease therapeutics, as well as the research methods in play, will continue to adapt and improve. Allucent is proud to have contributed to this therapeutic area. Our team has supported over 50% of all NCE antibiotics approved by the FDA since 2013 and continues to support several infectious disease studies currently in progress, including Operation Warp Speed.

References

http://infectiousdiseases.edc.org/content/timeline-emerging-diseases-
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/a-timeline-of-emerging-infectious-diseases-in-history.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7404362/
https://www.historyofvaccines.org/timeline/others
https://www.cdc.gov/plague/index.html
https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine