The course begins with the early history of smallpox – the first infectious disease to be eradicated by a vaccination programme. At the end of section 1, we ask you to read an article on the history of smallpox, then, before continuing further with this course, you should turn to the case study on polio, where we discuss the prospects for making this the second infectious disease to be eradicated by vaccination.

At the end of section 5 you will study the mini-lecture on vaccination. You will conclude your study of this chapter by conducting some internet research on the progress of vaccination programmes.

Learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• define and use, or recognise definitions and applications of, each of the terms in bold in the course

• use examples from the history of vaccination to illustrate the conduct and outcomes of vaccine strategies to control infectious diseases

• discuss the principle strategies available for developing a vaccine and explain the significance of critical antigens, immunogens and adjuvants in developing effective vaccines

• identify examples of infectious diseases for which effective vaccines are available and some for which they are not. Explain why it has been scientifically difficult or commercially unprofitable to develop vaccines against certain infectious diseases, and why others have been amenable to control by vaccination

• discuss the prospects for developing a vaccine against a named infectious disease, given information on its biology and epidemiology, and on the immune response in human hosts.