The importance of experimental infections in the study of infectious diseases. experience of domestic scientists

Background. Some of the most tragic pages in human history are associated with periods of epidemic and pandemic spread of infectious diseases. In the process of studying new infections, doctors and scientists used a variety of analysis methods, some of which were associated with a risk to the life and health of not only the researchers themselves, but also those around them.

Objective. Assess the importance and significance of experimental infections in the study of infectious processes.

Materials and methods. The method of analyzing data from literary sources was used. The research material was the most modern scientific publications available on the platforms elibrary.ru, Scholar.ru, etc.

Results. The research work of domestic scientists on the study of infectious diseases is striking in its significance not only for domestic but also world history. Thus, Danila Samoilovich, in the process of his experimental work, determined an effective method of disinfection (fumigation) during the plague epidemic in Moscow in 1771; Stepan Andreevsky in 1788, through self-infection, confirmed that vaccination would help overcome the anthrax epidemic, G. N. Minch in 1874 determined through self-infection that patients were suffering from relapsing fever, not typhus; D. K. Zabolotny proved the effectiveness of cholera vaccination by his own example; Z. V. Ermolyeva proved through an experiment on herself that some cholera-like vibrios, while in the human intestine, can turn into true cholera vibrios, causing the disease cholera; M. P. Chumakov, as part of an expedition in 1937, identified the causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis, established the carrier of the virus, the antigenic properties of the strains and the characteristic signs of the disease; subsequently, in 1959, he, together with A. A. Smorodintsev proved the safety of vaccination with A. B. strains. Sabina against polio; V. A. Znamensky in the second half of the 50s. through self-infection, confirmed that the causative agent of Far Eastern scarlet-like fever is Y. pseudotuberculosis; M. S. Balayan discovered viral hepatitis E through self-infection in 1981.

Conclusion. In the history of preventive medicine, experiments with self-infection have become a vivid illustration of the fight against infectious diseases, because Overall, humanity's centuries-long struggle against infectious diseases is a story of courage, struggle and self-sacrifice. The stories of the people presented in the article admire their courage and self-sacrifice, pursuing lofty goals in the form of saving hundreds and thousands of people’s lives.

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