A number of scientific advances in the last few centuries have improved the field of medicine a great deal, such as sterilizing surgical equipment, vaccines, and germ theory. Today, millions of lives around the world are saved each year due to the efforts of vaccines and shots, and some diseases have even been declared extinct. It is routine for children, babies, and adults alike to receive shots at hospitals and doctor’s offices, and the staff at these hospitals will have the right storage equipment to keep those vaccines ready for use. Vaccines are powerful, but they are also delicate and sensitive to temperature, so pharmaceutical refrigerators and vaccine refrigerator freezers can store them at a safe temperature for a long time. Vaccine freezers and pharmaceutical refrigerators can be found on the secondary market, not to mention catalogs of medical suppliers. What should the staff of a hospital look for when buying pharmaceutical refrigerators, or medical grade freezers?
Vaccines Then and Now
Vaccines date back further than many people realize, and they have been saving lives ever since. In the year 1796, a British scientist named Edward Jenner first pioneered vaccines as we know them when he developed the “arm to arm” inoculation method against smallpox. He did this by extracting a tissue sample from a cowpox patient’s skin blister and transferring it to the skin of a second patient. With this method, Jenner could train the second patient’s immune system to recognize and fight off smallpox and cowpox. The concept proved a success, and vaccines continued to be used and developed ever since. Much later, by the 1940s, vaccines had entered mass production for the first time, and they were often geared to fight common diseases of the time such as smallpox, diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough. By the 21st century, the present, vaccines can also deal with other diseases such as measles and polio as well.
Who needs to get vaccines? Babies, children, and adults all need routine shots to keep their immune systems strong and contain the spread of disease. Babies and children have developing immune systems that need to be reinforced with vaccines and routine shots, and responsible parents will bring their youngsters to the doctor’s office for these shots. In centuries past, many babies and children died of disease, but modern vaccines have put a stop to that. Adults can get vaccines to update their immune systems, and the elderly may need vaccines to bolster their age-worn immune systems, which can help prevent the spread of disease in crowded retirement homes.
Proper Storage Solutions
Meanwhile, the staff at a hospital or a research lab will need pharmaceutical refrigerators and freezers to store vaccines properly for the long term. It should be noted that commercial, ordinary freezers and fridge unit are not sufficient for this, since they are designed to store food instead of medical goods. Those commercial cooler units have a very wide temperature variance when their door are opened, which could harm any vaccines stores inside. Instead, these buyers will look for medical grade pharmaceutical refrigerators and freezers, which are indeed designed to store delicate medical items inside.
What is a proper temperature range for storing those vaccines? Some vaccines need to be frozen, and as per the CDC’s guidelines, these medical freezers will store goods at a temperature of -58 degrees to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, or -50 to -15 degrees Celsius to keep those vaccines properly frozen. Other vaccines don’t need to be frozen, and they can be placed into fridges with an internal temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or 5 degrees Celsius. As for finding them, the staff of a hospital or research lab can look to the secondary market, as well as browse the online catalogs that medical suppliers can offer. Buying from a secondary seller means looking over a gently used freezer before buying it, to make sure it’s in fine condition. And some freezers are larger than others; a large hospital’s staff can clear up floor space for a sizeable unit, while the staff at a small research lab can buy a benchtop freezer or even an “under the counter” cooler to save room.