Edward Jenner & Vaccinations

• Inoculation

  • dates from 18th century, has been used widely in Far East
  • Lady Mary Montague brought it to England in 1721
  • involved a mild form of smallpox being introduced, so the body develops a mild form of the disease, but become immune to the stronger form
• Edward Jenner

  • a country doctor, heard the gossip that milkmaids who had cowpox didn't get smallpox
  • injected 9 year old James Phipps with pus of cowpox. once he recovered from cowpox, he gave him a small dose of smallpox, but he was immune
  • submitted a paper to the Royal Society in 1797 but was told he needed more proof
• Edward Jenner

  • he experimented more, keeping detailed notes and records
  • in 1798, he published 'An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Varioae Vaccine'
  • continued to work on vaccination and in 1802 was awarded £10,000 by the government, and a further £20,000 in 1807 after the Royal College of Physicians confirmed the effectiveness of vaccination
• What were the negative reactions to Jenner's work?

  • some members of the Church believed disease was sent by God, so vaccination interfered with God's will
  • some people felt unsafe about being injected with an animal's disease
  • he didn't know about germs, so couldn't fully explain his theory until Pasteur and Koch
• When did vaccination become free to infants?


  in 1840 after a dreadful smallpox epidemic
• Government Involvement

  • in 1853, vaccination was made compulsory but not enforced
  • the laissez-faire government had a fear of this disease
  • in 1866 an antivaccine league was set up against compulsory vaccination
  • in 1871 parents could be fined for not vaccinating their kids
  • in 1887, once death rate had fallen dramatically, parents could refuse it for their children
  • in 1980, smallpox was completely eradicated