Edward Jenner

Impacts of Edward Jenner

His idea of vaccination is now the foundation of modern prevention of disease In 1852/3 the British government began to make vaccinations compulsory Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were keen supporters

What were Edward Jenner's influences

His own experience of inoculation The influence of the Enlightenment and Scientific revolution which promoted new ideas Observations of milkmaids Scientific and medical training

Overall impact on British Medicine

In the short term vaccinations grew steadily in popularity but had many critics In the long term Jenner's discoveries saved more lives than almost anyone

Areas of research and major contributions

Prevention of smallpox Used scientific apporach- observable and repeatable phenomenon to confirm that milk maids who contracted cowpox were then immune to smallpox Developed the use of cowpox as a vaccination against smallpox

Limitations of Edward Jenner

The Church questioned the legitimacy of vaccinations and thought it was wrong to use animal infections in humans Inoculated campaigned against vaccinations The Royal Society refuses to publish his idea Jenner observed the vaccinations effect but could not explain how it worked When done clumsily the vaccination didn't work The government were slow to make it compulsory as it was expensive

Ideas that Edward Jenner developed

The connection between milkmaids catching cowpox and never catching smallpox. He then infected a small boy (James Philips) with cowpox and then smallpox to test this theory. He wrote a report to prove this wasn't a fluke and called the process vaccination

Ideas that Edward Jenner rejected

The idea that inoculation was the best way to prevent smallpox

Edward Jenner (1749-1823)

A country doctor who first practised medicine in St George's hospital He was raised in and returned to Gloucestershire and developed a vaccination for smallpox in 1796