Simply put, vaccinations are the administration of antigenic material within an individual’s system in order to stimulate that person’s immune system and help develop adaptive immunity to combat the pathogens intent on plaguing the body. It is, in many ways, a suspension of weakened toxic or organic material that is introduced into another organism to further prevent the spread of disease. For centuries, man has dedicated time, resources, and a lifetime of effort and service in order to eradicate disease and spread cures to thousands who have been infected.

Thanks to their ingenuity and painstaking hard work, the world now knows a cure for smallpox. Vaccines helped significantly reduce the deaths caused by measles globally by 78% between the years 2000 and 2008; while in sub-Saharan Africa, the death toll dropped by a staggering 92% in the same period. Modern times has called for alternatives in receiving the medication. These vaccines no longer have to be injected; some may already be taken orally. For more insane facts you didn’t know about vaccines, read on. Here they are:

Fact 1: Brace yourself for this one. Our number one fact retells this haunting reality: Mercury is used in producing vaccines to this day. Yes, we’re talking about the neurotoxic element that is Mercury; and no, we aren’t joking. This is an illegal and audacious practice that only results in death.

Fact 2: Virologists who work for Merck have fabricated false results with the formulation of their vaccines in order to continue receiving government support.

Fact 3: Vaccines are known to cause something called “herd immunity;” and this means, if the majority of people living within a community have been vaccinated against a disease, an unvaccinated person is less likely to get sick because others are less likely to get sick and spread the disease.

Fact 4: In the past 60 years, vaccines have been able to successfully eradicate the disease smallpox. It is soon to overcome the next big hurdle, polio.

Fact 5: Anthrax is a type of seasonal disease that is controlled by temperature fluctuations, the amount of rain received and even the soil type. In the United States alone, the vaccine has been approved by the FDA dating back to 1970, providing protection for those who are at high risk of contracting the disease.  The vaccine has been proven to be 93% effective in every case.

Fact 6: The name Robert Koch ring a bell? It ought to. He is a leading authority and one of the original founders of bacteriology.

Fact 7: There’s a temple that is dedicated to vaccinations. Edward Jenner, the man of smallpox vaccination fame, has built a one-room shack located in his humble backyard to administer vaccinations to people free of charge. He has called this building the “Temple of Vaccinia.” You go, Edward Jenner.

Fact 8: There was a time when rabid dogs seemed to own the streets of Paris. During the summer of 1880, a Parisian veterinarian grew concerned about the rising number of rabid dogs in the city and sent samples of an infected dog brain to Louis Pasteur’s lab. Five years after receiving these samples, Pasteur developed a vaccine for rabies.

Fact 9: The technology for immunization originated from China.

Fact 10: Vaccines used to be tested on the patient’s family members! The famous researcher Salk was believed to have tested his polio vaccination on his family; and later, he administered it to himself.