Rabies vaccineIn 1885, French scientist Louis Pasteur and his colleagues injected the first of 14 daily doses of rabbit spinal cord suspensions containing progressively inactivated rabies virus into 9-year-old Joseph Meister, who had been severely bitten by a rabid dog 2 days before. The immunization was successful. This was the beginning of the modern era of immunization, which had been presaged by Edward Jenner nearly 100 years earlier. Pasteur's rabies immunization procedure was rapidly adopted throughout the world. The boy grew up and became caretaker of the Pasteur Institute until age 64. |
