Edward Jenner and Vaccination

Edward Jenner (1749--1823) was an English country doctor who developed the world's first vaccine. His discovery of vaccination against smallpox in 1796 was one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of medicine and would eventually lead to the eradication of the disease in 1980.

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Smallpox: The Killer Disease

Smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases in 18th-century Britain.

Fact	Detail
Symptoms	High fever, vomiting, and a rash of fluid-filled blisters (pustules) that left permanent scars
Mortality rate	Around 20--30% of those infected died
Scale	Killed approximately 400,000 Europeans per year in the 18th century
Survivors	Often left blind or severely scarred

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Inoculation Before Jenner

Before Jenner, the main method of protection was inoculation (also called variolation).

• Material from a smallpox pustule was scratched into the skin of a healthy person.
• This usually caused a mild case of smallpox, after which the person was immune.
• Lady Mary Wortley Montagu brought the practice to Britain from Turkey in 1721.