Modern medicine is based on many breakthroughs, some of which are fairly delicate and need proper storage. No matter how advanced a vaccine or cure is, it still has the mundane need for proper storage, and lab technicians and doctors at a hospital alike need a lab refrigerator or lab freezer on hand for this. A vaccine freezer or vaccine refrigerator in particular may be used at a hospital when many patients are coming in for their shots, so a scientific refrigerator can do a lot of good. When the staff at a lab or hospital decide that it is time to buy a new scientific refrigerator for use on the premises, there are a few factors that they should keep in mind. After all, scientific refrigerators vary in size and internal temperature, and delicate vaccines need just the right storage. How can a scientific refrigerator get the job done, and what is the history of vaccines as we know them?
Vaccines Then and Now
Vaccines as a method to fight viruses date back to the late 1700s. In the year 1796, a man named Edward Jenner developed what he named the “arm to arm” inoculation method, which involved drawing a sample from a cowpox victim’s blister and injecting it into the arm of another patient. This trained the patient’s body to fight smallpox, and helped patients survive this dangerous virus. This method proved effective, and vaccines continued to develop and advance over the years. By the 1940s, vaccines were being produced on a large scale for the first time, and many of them were geared for common illnesses at the time such as whooping cough, tetanus, Diphtheria, and smallpox. Today, vaccines cover an even wider variety of viruses, such as measles and Polio, and thanks to the efforts of vaccinations, many once-common illnesses have been largely eradicated from the public sphere, such as Polio and smallpox.
Many statistics are being kept to track just how effective vaccines have proven to be around the world, and the numbers are encouraging. In fact, the number of measles-related deaths has dropped from 546,800 in the year 2000 down to 114,900 in the year 2014, a considerable 79% drop. Similarly, the World Health Organizations, along with the Measles and Rubella Initiative, have estimated that as many as 17.1 million deaths have been prevented due to the measles vaccine since 2000. Similarly, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that as vaccines have prevented as many as 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among people under 20 years old.
Vaccine Shots and Storage
Who needs vaccines? The young and old alike need them, and by the time a baby is six months to one year old, it will be due for a number of vaccines to protect it and its peers from dangerous and contagious diseases. Even the elderly have need for vaccines, since their immune systems weaken with age and diseases may spread fast in crowded nursing homes. Adults are encouraged to stay updated on their vaccines to protect themselves and their community alike from viruses and other contagion.
A hospital may be able to provide many vaccines, but those delicate vaccines need the proper storage to stay in usable condition. This typically involves temperature, and a scientific refrigerator may be the key. After all, an ordinary cooler or freezer unit may have the storage space for vaccines, but they are meant for storing food, not delicate medical equipment. These coolers will have unacceptably wide variance in internal temperature as their doors are opened and closed, which could ruin vaccines and lab samples inside.
Instead, a proper medical freezer or fridge unit can be bought, and wholesale freezers or fridges may be found through the proper channels. Some vaccines merely need to be chilled, and the CDC recommends a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, frozen vaccines should be stored at -58 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit to keep them in good condition. What is more, a lab or hospital should ensure that a unit of the right size and weight is being purchased for their storage needs. If necessary, a cramped lab can make use of an under-the-counter cooler freezer unit to save some space.
