First Smallpox Vaccine, 1872
Color enhanced illustration from 1872 of the first smallpox vaccine which consisted of pus squeezed from pustules deliberately made on the belly of a calf. The discharge, which contained hair, bacteria and other contaminants, was mixed with glycerin before being injected into patients. The smallpox vaccine was the first successful vaccine to be developed. Edward Jenner (1749-1823), English physician and pioneer of vaccination. Jenner coined the word vaccination to describe his use of cowpox inoculation to obtain immunity to smallpox. Folk tales from his native Gloucestershire suggested that dairy hands who had contracted the milder cowpox did not contract the deadlier small pox. Jenner experimented on a small boy by inoculating him with fluid obtained from the blister of a patient with cowpox. He repeated his experiments and in 1798 published his results. The practice of vaccinating against smallpox quickly spread
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1749 1823 Calf Cowpox Immunity Immunologist Immunology Inoculation Jenner Microbiologist Microbiology Pustule Smallpox Vaccination Vaccine
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