Dr. Ramakanta

The story of Benjamin Jetsy and Cowpox

Who discovered vaccination against Small Pox ? We all remember that in the year 1796, Edward Jenner, a British Physician had inoculated the son of his Gardener with the cow pox germ.Jenner had named this process as vaccination. In latin, Cow is known as Vacca. Here is the original story. Small pox was rampant inContinue reading “The story of Benjamin Jetsy and Cowpox”

Vaccine Story-1

Vaccine agents can be either Live whole cell ones, Killed whole cell or sub-unit vaccines. Sub Units can be one specific protein ( Spike protein ) or a slice of DNA or mRNA. Sub unit vaccines are developed only after molecular biology techniques are developed. Between live vaccine and killed vaccine, which is developed earlierContinue reading “Vaccine Story-1”

The Koch-Pasteur Rivalry

Robert Koch is credited with the discovery of the Koch’s Postulate. Then he went on to discover the Anthrax bacillus, Vibrio Cholera and of course the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. It should be taken as the greatest medical achievement of all time. He was awarded the 1905 Nobel prize for his seminal work. What is so greatContinue reading “The Koch-Pasteur Rivalry”

And Quiet Flows The Daya

( Yesterday, I took my guest from Delhi for a visit to Dhauli hills, Shanti Stupa for a visit) Like each and every tourist does, we went up to see the more famous Shanti Stupa ( Peace Pagoda) built by the Japan- Kalinga Buddhist association. It is hardly 50 years old and helped ourselves toContinue reading “And Quiet Flows The Daya”

Vaccine Efficacy vs Immunological Memory

We have developed Covid vaccines that are highly efficacious ( 94%) as early as December 2020. Yet in the mid 2021, the world reeled under the attack of Delta and the Omicrons. Today we are going to discuss two aspect of the Covid Vaccines: Vaccine Efficacy (VE) Immunological Memory ( IM) Let us classify allContinue reading “Vaccine Efficacy vs Immunological Memory”