The Epidemic Of Smallpox During The Middle Ages

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]

All throughout history nations all over the world have dealt with deadly diseases, but one in particular brought out the fear in the nations of Europe, the bubonic plague or as others call it, the black death. During the thirteenth century, medicine was not as developed as it is now, causing England to suffer more than others. According to Cantor (2002) the European nations encountered the bubonic plague in its most brutal state during 1348 to 1349, taking out about a third of Europe’s population (pp. 6-7). He continues on by claiming that one big question to this event was whether or not the plague was the full cause to the loss of lives or if there was another cause along with it (p. 11). Cantor (2002) also explained that the reason the black plague stopped in Europe around the eighteenth century could possibly have been from an introduction to a new species of rats, the gray rat (p. 13). Even though there is controversy based around the plague being spread by rats and how it was stopped by isolation, it may have taught countries useful strategies and ways to grow stronger.

Despite the disappearance of the plague, smallpox still ran rampant throughout the world. The terrible disease continued to kill millions of Europeans every year. An inoculation created in the early 1700s was a somewhat successful solution and thousands of Europeans underwent the operation to engraft their skin with smallpox (Doc 2). However, new, more efficient solution came in the form of Edward Jenner, who created the first smallpox vaccine by collecting cowpox from an infected person and inserting it into another individual’s arm (Doc 6). Edward Jenner’s new vaccine was virtually harmless and was the most efficient vaccination to date. The smallpox vaccine eradicated the disease in Europe and eventually, the entire world. Smallpox was the last great disease that Europeans faced and its elimination allowed Europe’s population to grow and

During the Revolutionary War, one of the main fears were not the enemies bullets, but fear of disease. One of the major viruses that people had to fear was smallpox. The continental army had more to fear than the British in the fact that British had been immunized, and the continental army had not. This was only the beginning of the problems from the smallpox epidemic that broke out in America.

Edward Jenner invented a vaccine by using a naturally-acquired and mild cowpox to prevent smallpox. More than one thousand people were vaccinated in England alone within three years. The print media played an important role in spreading the word about these vaccinations and smallpox was finally eradicated in 1980 (Bouldin, 2010).

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.

The Speckled Monster is a fictional account (based on considerable historical research) of the Smallpox epidemic which takes place in the early 18th century in London and Boston (Jennifer Lee Carrell, 2016) The two main characters both battled and survived brutal smallpox; Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Dr. Zabdiel Boylston. They also both witnessed their children suffer with the disease which motivated them individually to find a solution to the problem of smallpox (Jennifer Lee Carrell, 2016) Both main characters were threatened with mob violence, public criticism and ostracism in their search for revolutionary medicine (Rusnock, 2004) During their travels, Lady Mary and Boylston acquired some special knowledge from Eastern European and African slaves about a folk medical traditions that helped to provide a starting point for the modern science of immunology and

In the middle ages one of the biggest impact on society was the black plague. The black plague was huge, and went on for a long time. It had a lot of BACKGROUND and symptoms it, it effected the middle ages a ton, and the people came up with many weird was of trying to find a cure for it. The plague killed about 25 million people, about 1/3 of the population! Hope you learn a lot from this.

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.

In the Middle Ages, nothing caused more chaos than the Black Plague. It was a large disease that spread all across Western Europe causing one-third of the population to disappear. As the Black Plague spread further and further, more problems erupted. People did not know how to react to the plague so they killed their neighbors. Cities were forced to raise taxes to pay for the expenses of the plague, but nothing could solve the large amount of debt that was due. The Black Plague led to the decline of feudalism because the problems it caused, led to more issues.

One of the major health event happen in the 1800s is when Edward Jenner, a english doctor create vaccination to cure smallpox. Edward jenner was born in may 17 1749 and died on january 26 1823 at the age of 74 from a massive stroke. He have safe many life. Smallpox is a contagious viral disease. It cause fever and left scar. Before smallpox is being cure over 400,000 unlucky people die each year from it. SmallPox have been all over the place in the old days. It was first being seen in china in the 4th century.It being said that every 3 out of 10 people died from it and who ever survive will have scar left on them. He thought of the idea when he know a dairymaid who said “i shall never have smallpox for i have had cowpox. I shall never

With the major strides in medicine that have come about in the last few decades, the notion of a plague seems to be becoming less of a possibility and more a thing of antiquity. Around the latter half of the 20th century, doctors thought that disease as a whole would be eradicated with the new vaccinations and antibiotics that were being produced. For the first time in history it seemed as if diseases were under control. It was not long before the arrogance of modern medicine found new epidemics that were not so easily cured. To this day the only disease to be eradicated is smallpox, which was announced in the 1980s. Decades after achieving the eradication of small pox in nature, new pathogens like SARs, AIDS/HIV,

Although most people think Edward Jenner was the first person to attempt a vaccination, this is not true. The earliest vaccinations started in the 7th century when snake venom was drank by Buddhists to try to gain immunity from snakebites. In 1796, Edward Jenner, a doctor in England, discovered he could give people immunity to smallpox by injecting them with material from cowpox lesions. Smallpox was a significant disease in most countries and killed millions of people in Europe and Mexico. Steps had already been taken to eradicate smallpox but it was Jenner who discovered using cowpox to immunize against smallpox as being the safest method. Using smallpox to create the vaccine was not safe so Jenner’s idea helped to save many people. This was the beginning of developing vaccines to keep people safe from diseases that were capable of wiping out entire populations. This

In 1796, smallpox was hundreds of thousands of people every year. This was until Edward Jenner

Today most children in the United States live a much healthier life and parents live with much less anxiety due to vaccinations. More than 200 years ago, Edward Jenner conducted an experiment that would be one of the most astounding breakthroughs in medical history. Jenner noticed that milkmaids didn’t catch the smallpox, a disease rampant across the English countryside. He reasoned that the blisters on the milkmaid’s hand must contain something that was protective. He tested his theory by taking fluid from a blister on the wrist of a milkmaid and inoculating it into the arm of a local laborer’s son (Offit and