The first record of small pox epidemics in Korea claims that the malignant pestilence came from China around the 4th-5th century. Records have been found indicating that this pestilence attacked Korea every few years and that the havoc it caused was beyond description. China was the first country in the orient to use Jenner's vaccine, 10 years after its invention in 1796. The effect of the vaccine had been widely recognized and it was introduced to Korea through Japan. Mr. Sok-Yong Chi, an educator who was much interested in modern medical science, with the cooperation of the public, introduced wide usage of the vaccine in December 1879. Through continued effort with vaccination by 1959 this pestilence had completely disappeared from this country. Before the introduction of vaccinations, the variolation method, which came from China was also practiced here. Its effect was not recognized by the public and the method did not became popular. In addition, a few other methods to prevent this pestilence were introduced. Methods such as inhalation of pox-liquid and insertion of scar-pills(a chinese style of intranasal inoculation) were also practiced. However, in Korea the Turkish style of cross facial skin inoculation which was introduced by Lady Mary Worthey Montage does not seem to have been practiced here. Before the practices of vaccination and variolation were introduced small pox epidemics were considered to be the "coaxing of the pox-devil". People tried to fight against small pox epidemics by setting up wooden guardian poles as a nears of divine protection at bridges at the foot of Mt. Ami. The recent edition of the Korean comprehensive bibliography of place names shows about 90 locations for Mt. Ami which suggests there were a lot of attacks of small pox epidemics all over the country in the past.
English Abstract ; History of Medicine, Modern ; Human ; Immunization/*history ; Korea ; Smallpox/*history ; Vaccination/*history

The first Korean record on the smallpox can be found in the Hyangyak-Kukupbang compiled during the period of late Koryo dynasty. The record told on the cause, symptom, preventive and curative method of the disease but it did not touch upon its infectivity. Jeong Yak-Yong and Lee Jong-In of late 18th and early 19th centuries recognized first that the disease is infectious and it can be prevented by the vaccination method. But the vaccination against smallpox had not been carried out in public until 1880. From 1879 Chi Suk-Young began to try it privately to his relatives and neighbors. For sometime the smallpox vaccination was considered foreign and heretical by many people and some officers, so the trial of Chi and his colleagues had to go through an ordeal until the Reform of 1894. In 1895 the government first proclaimed an Ordinance on the Smallpox Vaccination in October and an Ordinance on the Training Center for Smallpox Vaccination in November. And two years later, in 1897 to bring up the vaccination doctors the government established the Training Center for Smallpox Vaccination, which was in 1899 integrated into the Medical school, the first modern and westernized medical school run by Korean government. Many of the vaccination doctors were posted at the newly established Office of Smallpox Vaccination by the government to perform their activities there until 1907.
English Abstract ; *Government ; History of Medicine, 18th Cent. ; History of Medicine, 19th Cent. ; History of Medicine, 20th Cent. ; Human ; Immunization/history ; Korea ; Public Health/*history ; Smallpox/*history ; Vaccination/*history

Since Willis described 'fatigable weakness' in 1672, most physicians consider it as a kind of hysteria due to the inconsistent fluctuation of symptoms. Erb presented three cases of 'bulbal palsy' in the 1870s, and Oppenheim and Hopper considered myasthenia gravis as a disease similar to curare poisoning and as a disease induced by attack of the motor centers by intrinsic toxins, respectively. In 1903, Elliot suggested that a 'chemical substance' mediates the nerve impulses at synapse. However, it was not until 1921 that this was demonstrated by Loewi, who provided evidence from the famous two-frog-hearts experiment. Dale later revealed the substance to be acetylcholine, and he also suggested that myasthenia gravis is due to a problem with the motor end plate. In 1934, Walker was prompted by the resemblance between myasthenia gravis and curare poisoning to apply physostigmine, a curare-poisoning antidote, to a patient, which produced a dramatic result. Since then the use of anticholinesterase inhibitors has been adopted for standard therapeutic modality. Some prominent surgeons have also applied thymectomy as a surgical modality. The most recent focus of myasthenia gravis has been immunological. In 1960, Simpson proposed the autoimmune hypothesis, and Chang et al. showed that snake venom contained a selective antagonist of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, alpha-bungarotoxin. The immunization of rabbits with acetylcholine receptor purified from the electrical organs of electric eels by Patrick et al. induced myasthenic symptoms and signs, and these were reversed by acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. The role of the autoimmune system has led to the introduction of an immunosuppressive modality and plasma exchange to the field of clinical neurology.
Acetylcholine ; Action Potentials ; Bungarotoxins ; Cholinesterase Inhibitors ; Curare ; Electrophorus ; History of Medicine ; Humans ; Hysteria ; Immunization ; Motor Endplate ; Myasthenia Gravis ; Physostigmine ; Plasma Exchange ; Rabbits ; Receptors, Nicotinic ; Snake Venoms ; Synapses ; Thymectomy