The Japanese Virologist Dr. Michiaki Takahashi invented the world's 1st effective vaccine against chickenpox.
Even the search giant, Google, featured Dr. Takahashi in a doodle on its homepage to commemorate his 94th Birthday.
Thanks to his invention, millions of possible chickenpox cases are prevented every year.
Mr. Takahashi was born on 17th February 1928 in Osaka, Japan. He developed the chickenpox vaccine in 1974 and named it "Oka." It was approved by W.H.O. the next year. This lifesaving vaccination was adopted by more than 80 countries worldwide. Thus, helping in saving millions of children worldwide.
Dr. Takahashi earned his M.B.B.S degree and joined the research institute of Microbial Disease at Osaka University to study polio and measles viruses.
Dr. Takahashi accepted an invitation for a research fellowship at Baylor College in the U.S. in 1963. While he was away, his son got infected by a severe case of chickenpox, leading him to change his research focus to producing a vaccine against the illness.
He returned to Japan in 1965. After that, he began studying weak and live molecules of the chickenpox virus. In 1974, he created the world's first vaccine against the virus "Varicella," which was the chief cause of the disease. The vaccine underwent a trial process among the infected patients. Eventually, the vaccine proved to be effective.
A foundation for viral diseases at Osaka University started producing the vaccine on a mass scale in 1986. At that time, Dr. Takahashi’s vaccine was the only approved vaccine by the W.H.O. against chickenpox.
Unfortunately, Dr. Michiaki Takahashi died from a heart attack.
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