Peking University, Mar. 17, 2011: “I can’t wait any longer; Let me get the first shot.”
“Mom will get a shot which might make me sick, so keep away from me for a while,” she told her two children at home.
Returning to her laboratory, she took out the refrigerated hepatitis B vaccine, and injected it into her body with the help of her colleagues.
The brave mother honored afterwards as mother of hepatitis B vaccine in China, was Tao Qimin, first director of Peking University (PKU) Hepatology Institute. After developing China's first hepatitis B vaccine, she tested it personally and became the first injected in China.
A hand stretched out by Hans
In 1963, American scientists for the first time discovered the identification mark of hepatitis B virus infection in an Australian aboriginal’s serum - Australia antigen (AA). When AA was named hepatitis B surface antigen, in 1972, hepatitis B finally went into the people's vision.
"China was closed during the Cultural Revolution. Without ’Doctor Mi’, I could never attain so much,” Tao Said.
The real name of “Doctor Mi” was Hans Miller, a German who came to China in 1939. In Yan’an, he noticed the unclear “abdominal distention” symptoms. As assistant dean of Beijing Medical School at that time, he realized, “Nine times out of ten, it is hepatitis B!”
At that time, China rarely communicated with the external world. In 1972, during a family visit in Japan with his wife Nakamura Kyoko, Hans brought back several hepatitis B kits.
“’Doctor Mi’ convoked a meeting with a few hospitals after his return, asking who would like to take charge of the research. Then I raised my hand,” Tao recalled.
Japanese were shocked
As the saying goes, “If you have no hand, you can't make a fist”. Tao should first isolate the virus before research. In China’s harsh year of 1973, Hans successively sent Tao to study the latest hemagglutination detection technology in Japan.
After her return, the Japanese HBV cassets were soon used up, leaving little possibility to launch a large-scale sample survey at that time. “We just do it on our own,” Tao said. Within only four months, she created a set of HBV detection kits independently, which astonished the Japanese experts.
With the ensuing popularized application of these kits throughout the nation, she surprisingly discovered the sampling result of 10% AA positive among Chinese people.
"Having worked clinically for so many years, I am quite clear of the difficulty in hepatitis B treatment," speaking of hepatitis B, Tao Qimin admitted. Finding a vaccine seems to be the best solution.
In 1975, in the journal Science, Tao Qimin saw a report of the United States researchers who isolated the virus from the carriers, then inactivated and injected it into a gorilla. Without any hepatitis B symptom, the gorilla turned out to generate HBV antibodies .
"Immediately I knew how to make it - Isn’t it centrifugal?” Tao had learned the centrifugalization by heart for long. "It seems to be 3000 revolutions per minute. With an electron microscopy, I observed the bottom layer of the tube with no big particles of virus but surface antigens everywhere. The pure surface antigens could be used to make vaccines!" said Tao Qimin. Soon on July 1, 1975, China’s first hepatitis B vaccine (Code 7571) was born in Tao Qimin’s hand!
First testing injection
According to international practice, developed hepatitis B vaccine should be tested on the gorilla before on a human. So the first hepatitis B vaccine was frozen up.
"Everybody was worried at that time," but Tao could not find available gorilla.
“I can’t wait any longer; I should get the first shot,” Tao made this tough decision.
This was a big event, which needed family support. "There was no need to inform my husband for he was out of the city for a whole year, while my two little children would always do what I said," Tao said.
After the injection, she kept taking temperature everyday and weekly blood tests. A week later, no antigens were found, neither a month later. After three months, the antibodies appeared instead, which means that she had got the immunity of HBV without infection.
They succeeded!
Following the arrangement of Ministry of Health, Tao donated the vaccine technology and the whole production process for free. Since then, hepatitis B vaccine has gradually begun to be popularized domestically.
In the past 35 years, the percentage of HBV carriers in China by the hepatitis b virus has dropped from 10% to 7%, with the HBV infection rate of children under 5 from 5% to 0.3%!
Tao has offered outpatient services at PKU People's Hospital, rain or shine, for 35 years. Now, aged over 80, she still remains 2-day outpatient service a week.
On the day of the exclusive interview, though just off the outpatient service, Tao was clear-minded and not a bit tired down. When it comes to the lately received title of “The top 10 health guard of Beijing”, the grand senior responded somewhat embarrassedly, “An old lady as I am is incompetent as a guard. How I wish to witness the elimination of HBV for the rest of my life! And I believe that it is not far away.”
Translated by: Wang Jingran
Edited by: Arthars
Source: Healthy Times