Vaccination represents a milestone in mankind’s fight against numerous infectious diseases.
Smallpox, a viral illness, attacked vulnerable populations for centuries, killing many victims and severely disfiguring survivors. In China, India and Turkey many children were “inoculated” with material taken from sores of persons suffering from a milder form of the disease. The technique protected most of the recipients from subsequent smallpox. A tiny fraction of inoculated children died.
Clif CleavelandIn 1796, British physician Edward Jenner observed that milkmaids in his rural district did not contract smallpox, a disease that frequently swept the countryside. He learned that the milkmaids developed temporary sores on their hands, similar to lesions on the cows’ udders. Surmising that “cowpox” protected against smallpox, Jenner injected 8-year old James Phipps with material taken from a pustule on the hands of an infected milkmaid. The boy had minor symptoms, which quickly subsided. Six weeks later Jenner injected the boy with material from a smallpox lesion. He published his findings, launching “vaccination” as a means of protection against specific, infectious diseases.
Resistance to both inoculation and vaccination came from some religious leaders who stated the treatment interfered with God’s will. During an epidemic of smallpox in Boston in 1721, Rev. Cotton Mather promoted inoculation. Violent opposition arose from some religious and medical spokesmen. Mather prevailed, and the epidemic subsided.
Vaccination spread. The last case of smallpox occurred in North America in 1952. After an intensive, worldwide campaign, the World Health Organization certified the global eradication of smallpox in 1980. Several countries maintain weaponized smallpox as potential tools in future wars.