Michiaki Takahashi was born on this date in 1928 in Osaka, Japan. That name might not sound familiar, but you owe him a thank you if you’ve never had chickenpox.
The virologist developed the first vaccine against chickenpox that has since been administered to millions of children around the world as an effective measure to prevent severe cases of the contagious viral disease and its transmission.
Google honors the doctor on his birthday with his own doodle.
After studying measles and polio, Takahashi accepted a research fellowship in 1963 at Baylor College in the United States. He turned his focus to chickenpox after his son developed a serious bout of the highly transmissible virus.
He returned to Japan in 1965 to do more research, and in five years the vaccine was ready for clinical trials. In 1974, Takahashi had developed the first vaccine targeting the varicella virus that causes chickenpox.
In 1986, the Research Foundation for Microbial Diseases at Osaka University began the rollout in Japan as the only varicella vaccine approved by the World Health Organization.
Takahashi’s vaccine is now used in more than 80 countries. preventing millions of cases of chickenpox each year.
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