Whose vaccine first helped protect children from diphtheria?
Quick Answer
Emil von Behring is best known for developing the first effective diphtheria antitoxin in the 1890s. It was not a vaccine in the modern sense, but it was the breakthrough that first made diphtheria controllable.
The Full Story
Emil von Behring, working with Shibasaburo Kitasato, developed the first effective serum treatment for diphtheria in 1890. Their antitoxin neutralized the toxin produced by Corynebacterium diphtheriae and dramatically reduced deaths in children. Behring received the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901 for this work. Later diphtheria toxoid vaccines replaced antitoxin as routine prevention, but Behring’s discovery opened the door to modern immunology.
Key Facts
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"The serum that changed diphtheria from a killer into a preventable disease"
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