Abstracts fra Bibliotek for Læger 2/2003

Nyt fra redaktionen

 

Vaccinia – to hundrede år som tam-virus i Danmark.

Niels Nørskov-Lauritsen:

Vaccinia. Two hundred years as tame-virus in Denmark.

Bibl Læger 2003; 194: 95–116.

Smallpox vaccination was initiated in Denmark in 1801 with infectious material obtained from Edward Jenner. The new prophylactic measure was met with immediate recognition and enthusiasm, and lay people played a major part in the early immunization efforts. Free vaccination was offered to the inhabitants of Copenhagen from February 1802, and this service developed into the National Vaccine Institute. Infectious material was harvested from one week old vaccine lesions and directly inoculated into other children. The passage of virus from arm-to-arm was carried out for more than 90 years, and one single strain (strain Pommern) was serially passed through more than 2600 children. After 1890 the production was changed, and smallpox vaccine was prepared in the skin of living animals. The last batch of vaccine was produced in 1976.

Vaccinia virus deserves its fame as a major break-through in preventive medicine. However, modern investigations have shown that vaccinia virus is neither the aetiologic agent of cowpox, nor a modified variant of variola virus. The origin of the virus is obscure and will prob­ably remain enigmatic.

 

Forskning i liberalisering af apotekervæsenet i Danmark – et argument for øget fokus på historien.

Jakob Bjerg Larsen, Janine Morgall Traulsen & Poul R. Kruse:

Research in the liberalisation of the pharmacy in Denmark – an argument for greater emphasis on the history of pharmacy.

Bibl Læger 2003; 195: 117–29.

In this paper, we argue for a greater emphasis on the history of ­pharmacy when exploring the liberalisation in 2001 of the sale of OTC medicines in Denmark. We argue that the choice of research perspective frames how we perceive liberalisation processes and thus this determines the nature of research questions asked and research methods used.

To illustrate the above, we present two different research perspect­ives on the liberalisation process in the field of pharmacy. The first perspective focuses on changes. We explore this by looking into liber­alisation processes in the 1990’s, and especially the deregulation of medicine distribution in Iceland. The second focuses our attention on a research perspective going further back than the 1990’s. It is argued that by looking into the existence, the function and the regulation of retailer shops as far back as 1883, the liberalisation in 2001 did not ­result in any practical changes in that the distribution of OTC medicines is carried out the same way today as it was a hundred years ago.

By adopting a long-term historical perspective in studying the regulation of pharmacy in Denmark we have challenged how liberalisation processes are normally viewed.

 

Forsidebillede: Fra Jenners »Inquery«.