Edward Jenner: Smallpox Vaccine

The history of vaccinations begin with Edward Jenner, the country doctor from Gloucestershire who found, growing on cows, a nearly harmless virus the protected people from smallpox. Jenner’s vaccine was safer, more reliable, and more durable than variolation, and it is still the only vaccine to have eliminated its reason for being-in 1980, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease extinct. For nearly a century and a half, smallpox was the only vaccine routinely administered, and it saved millions of lives . But the controversy that marked the return of the vaccine, amid bioterrorism hysteria in 2002, was only the latest twist in the remarkable, mysterious life of vaccines.

Over many of years the world has faced problems concerning health. Many scientists and health experts have worked together to better our nation 's health care. English Physician and Scientist Edward Jenner, a small country doctor, who is well known around the world for his innovative contribution to immunization and the ultimate eradication of smallpox. (2005, Baylor University Medical Center.) It is believed that smallpox appeared around 10,000 B.C. Smallpox was introduced to Europe sometime between the fifth and seventh centuries and was frequently epidemic during the Middle Ages. Edward Jenner was born on May 17, 1749, in Berkeley, Gloucestershire. During his early school years, Edward developed a strong interest in science and nature that continued throughout his life. Jenner’s interest in natural history and animal biology sharpened his medical understanding of the role of human-animal trans-species boundaries in disease transmission. He experienced the proverbial “Eureka”-like moment sometime during the 1770s. At age 13 he was apprenticed to a country surgeon and apothecary in Sodbury, near Bistol. The record shows that it was there Jenner heard a dairymaid say, " I shall never have smallpox for I have had cowpox. I shall never have an ugly pockmarked face." While Jenner 's interest in the effects of cowpox began during his apprenticeshire with George Harwickle, it wasn 't until 1796 before he made the first step in a long process of smallpox would be exposed. Jenner

Edward Jenner and the Discovery of Vaccines Edward Jenner (1749-1823) trained in London, under John Hunter, and was an army surgeon for a period of time. After that, he spent his whole career as a country doctor in his home county, Gloucestershire (West of England). His research was based on careful case studies and clinical observation more than a hundred years before scientists could explain what viruses and diseases actually were. His innovative new method was successful to such an extent that by 1840 the British government had banned alternative preventive treatments against smallpox. [IMAGE]

It was during this era that Edward Jenner invented a vaccine to prevent smallpox by inoculating a healthy eight-year old boy with cowpox;

However, Jenner’s invention became a common practice only a few years after he released it to the public, and according to The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia, “By 1890 smallpox had virtually been eradicated from Britain.” (“Jenner, Edward (1749-1823)”) From the information about the first vaccination, we can see that vaccinations have been proven to eliminate deadly diseases, whether they receive opposition or not. Without immunizations, we would be overcome with diseases, such as smallpox, polio, and measles.

Jenner’s discovery of the link between cowpox and smallpox was significant to the development of a vaccine for smallpox. However, it can be argued that Jenner and his discovery were not enough on their own to bring medical progress. The factors Scientific thinking, Government Communication and Changing attitudes played a major and important role to bring medical progress.

Dr. Edward Jenner was the first person to make a vaccine for small pox. He made it from a cow pox vaccine. ( ) Being the first person to make a

Humans eradicated smallpox. Through worldwide vaccination efforts, there has not been a single wild case of smallpox, the disease that killed nearly half those it infected, since 1978. This magnificent public health feat is being replicated worldwide for more than 20 pathogens, in the process protecting humans from a host of debilitating and deadly diseases. However, we cannot rest on our laurels. We still face numerous infectious diseases with effects just as devastating as smallpox. To combat these diseases, we must put new vaccine development and improvement at the forefront of our medical research.

Henderson, D. A. (1997). Edward Jenner’s vaccine. Public Health Reports, 112(2), 116-21. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230183418?accountid=458

The first vaccinations were made by an Edward Jenner, who made a vaccine for smallpox; The disease was later eradicated because of the precautions of the vaccine. Although it is not mandated by the US, it is still strongly advised. People who are for vaccinations say that, “vaccination is safe and one of the greatest health developments of the 20th century. They point out

Edward Jenner is well-known for his discoveries of immunizations for smallpox. It is known as the foundation of immunizations and his discoveries are awarded as the first immunization to ever be performed. Edward Jenner is considered a hero because he saved many, many people from a horrifying disease that had killed millions of people prior to his findings of the vaccine. But, not only was he a hero for saving people from small pox, but he set up a whole new world of vaccine and immunization opportunities. Though he is a hero, many people question whether the way he went about the investigation was ethical. Let's go back and make that decision for ourselves.

Throughout history, smallpox has been one of the dreaded scourges that inflicted mankind. World Health Organization (WHO) stated that smallpox is responsible for the 300 million death cases worldwide in the twentieth century. (Fenner, Henderson, Arita, Jezek , & Ladnyi, 1988) (Plotkin, 2004) It was only after Dr Edward Jenner’s development on the principle of vaccination that provided the only accurate technique for the prevention of smallpox. The introduction of vaccinia vaccine enabled the global eradication of naturally occurring smallpox in 1970, it is recorded that the last known smallpox case recorded was in Somalia after the eradication. (Rappuoli, Miller, & Falkow, 2002) Jenner’s procedure has been a highly effective immunizing agent, however, it seemed that it isn’t a successful fighter to disease because it carries high incidence of adverse side effects and severe complications. (Madigan, Martinko, Stahl , & Clark, 2012)This

One of the most groundbreaking discoveries of medical history was the vaccination and eventual eradication of smallpox, thanks to Edward Jenner. When he noticed that milkmaids exposed to cowpox were immune to smallpox, he used the pus from a cowpox lesions and inoculated a young boy. The boy soon was sick from cowpox but recovered quickly. When he was then inoculated with smallpox matter, he never became ill. This proved that there was a way to save people from the deadly disease of smallpox. This led to a better understanding of immunology. Other vaccines such as polio, MMR, and influenza wouldn’t have been created as quickly, if at all without Jenner. It is suspected that his interest and curiosity for curing smallpox was when he was 13 years old as an apprentice to a surgeon; he heard a milkmaid say, “I shall never have smallpox for I have had cowpox. I shall never have an ugly pockmarked face.” Although it was already suspected there was a connection between the two, it wasn’t determined until Edward Jenner created the vaccination. Smallpox has been eradicated from the World since 1980 because of this.

Consequently, on 14 May 1796 Dr. Edward Jenner tested his hypothesis that the infection of cowpox could protect a person from smallpox infection. Jenner noticed that milkmaids were generally immune to smallpox, this was due the pus in the blisters that milkmaids received from cowpox enabled them to be immune to small pox. . Jenner tested his hypothesis on an eight-year-old boy named James Phipps. Jenner did this by making a

Many people criticize him in different ways. Some of them are that people were telling him that he had not enough recorded information to have that kind of claims. Another from people criticize him was by making cartoons of his investigations. One of the most known cartoon, is the one in which you can see Mr. Jenner around people who show the absurd growth of a cow's body in different parts of people’s bodies. This drawing refers to the fact that people were exposed to cowpox. However, over time, people changed the perspective they had about Edward Jenner because he went from being a repudiate person and object of mockery to people to be an important person. Since, little by little people started to accept and recognize this was the best method