Edward jenner and the prevention of smallpox
smallpox facts
one of the biggest killer diseases in the 18th century. (1700)(renaissance)
a highly infectious virus spread by touching an infected person. it was also spread by an infected person coughing or sneezing
it killed 30% of those who caught it
symptoms
this was followed by pus-filled blisters covering the entire body
fever, headache and a rash
even if you survived, you could be left blind or with deep horrible scars.
queen elizabeth the 1st suffered from smallpox. luckily she survived, but with horrible scars that she covered up with thick layers of makeup.
Prevention of smallpox
the prevention for smallpox was inoculation, but this was controversial and didn't always work.
inoculation
opposition against inoculation
it involved giving a healthy person a mild does of the disease. dried scabs were scratched against their skin or blown up their nose. this allowed them (theoretically) to build up a resistance to the deadly version of smallpox.
it became fashionable in 1721 when, having seen it done in turkey, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu had her children inoculated
it became common in the 1740s, and many doctors became rich from the procedure.
there was a risk that the smallpox dose was not mild, and it could actually kill.
inoculated people could still pass the smallpox virus onto others.
some people had religious objections, believing that preventing sickness was interfering with God's will
poor people (the majority) could not afford to be inoculated
there was a lack of understanding around the subject, and many people didn't believe it would work.
jenner's discovery of vaccination
jenner decided to test whether or not people who caught cowpox didn't catch smallpox.
edward jenner (1749-1823) was a country doctor in gloucestershire
cowpox
cowpox is a much milder version of smallpox that affects cows.
jenner may have heard stories that people who caught cowpox didn't catch smallpox.
people working around cows, usually milkmaids often caught cowpox. they mostly survived.
he did this by giving cowpox to an 8 year old boy as an experiment.
if the cowpox "protection" against smallpox was true, then the boy would not react to the smallpox inoculation
after the cowpox had run its course, jenner gave the boy a smallpox inoculation (the mild version of smallpox)
if the cowpox "protection" didn't work, then the boy would develop smallpox scabs in the normal way.
Results
the boy did not get smallpox.
jenner repeated the experiment over several weeks with 16 different patients. none of them got smallpox.
jenner concluded correctly that cowpox protected humans from smallpox
Jenner called his cowpox inoculation technique vaccination, based on the latin word for cow (vacca).
reasons oppositions to jenner and vaccination: jenner published his findings in 1798 but...
many doctors were profiting from the smallpox inoculations. jenner's vaccine would stop this.
attempts to repeat his experiment failed: in the London Smallpox Hospital, william Woodville and james pearson tested cowpox, but the patient died (it was because their equipment was contaminated
he couldn't actually explain how vaccination worked
jenner was not a fashionable city doctor, so there was some snobbery towards him from the upper classes.
why was vaccination eventually accepted?
vaccination was less dangerous than inoculation
members of the royal family were vaccinated, which influenced public opinion
jenner had proved the effectiveness of vaccination by scientific experiment
parliament acknowledged jenners research with a £10,000 grant in 1802
in 1853, the british government made having the smallpox vaccine mandatory, basically eradicating it.