Factors affecting the development of drugs and vaccines

A number of factors influenced the changes and developments that occurred in the search for a cure to infectious disease. In brief, these factors were:

Technology

The Industrial Revolution provided Scientists with new forms of microscope, dyes that could be used to track and identify germs, laboratories and technical equipment for use in medical experimentation. Industrailisation and mechanization also resulted in the rapid spread of ideas along with a faster rate of production.

Good Luck

Some of the discoveries were down to chance. Fleming, for example, wasn't searching for penicillin when he came across it.

Competition

Scientists were becoming very eager to make breakthroughs before their competitors did. An example of this drive to succeed is the repeated clashes between Pasteur and Koch.

War

Medical advancements were often funded by governments eager to reduce death rates during wars. The development of penicillin is an example of this.

The fight against infectious disease: pages within this unit

What is an Infectious Disease? A Glossary of Infectious Diseases, Edward Jenner, Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, Vaccination, The Development of Drugs, Paul Ehrlich, Gerhard Domagk, Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, The importance of Penicillin, Factors affecting the development of drugs and treatments.

Activities within the Unit

Glossary vocabulary test	This activity checks your knowledge of infectious disease
Drag and Drop game	Do you know who developed each form of medicine?
Breakthrough against Infectious Disease	Use the information in this unit to answer a detailed question, then see how it compares with a suggested response. Ideal revision tool.

Recommended textbooks and revision guides

Textbooks	Revision Guides

In this unit:

Recommended Resources

Medicinethroughtime.co.uk - new site. Including Blog and use of twitter for free text / IM revision tips.

SchoolsHistory.org.uk highly recommends these sites:

Schoolhistory.co.uk - fantastic range of interactive games, revision materials and links.
ActiveHistory.co.uk - outstanding use of ICT to engage pupils.
Thinkinghistory.co.uk - a brilliant range of learning activities from Ian Dawson
JohnDClare.net - simply the best for Modern World GCSE students
History.org.uk - resources and CPD materials from the Historical Association.
Historyboxes.com - make your lessons 'real' with artefacts and living history provided by experts
Schoolshistory.com - same author as this site, just put together in a slightly different way!