Jenner’s Vaccination is Still Saving Humanity

Edward Jenner is hailed by history as the redeemer of people who were dying in thousands until he discovered the vaccination against small pox. Prior to his treatment, smallpox was a common and often a fatal disease that killed millions all over the world. History honors him as the “Father of Immunology” because he is the one who discovered and succeeded in using vaccines against contagious diseases. He is credited as the pioneer of smallpox vaccine. It is a great honor to him that his works have been said to have “saved more lives than the work of any other man.”

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A physician from boyhood

Edward Jenner was born on 17 May, 1749 in Berkeley in England of a family involved in social service. At a very young age of 14, Jenner got trained in Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire as an apprentice to Daniel Ludlow, a surgeon and he was there for eight years. In 1770, Jenner became the house pupil of renowned John Hunter, who gave him further training and guided him in experimentation and observation. As an energetic youth Jenner was very eager to serve people.

 A monstrous disease killing thousands

Jenner was shocked to see thousands dying of small pox. His keen observation could notice that people who had been sick with the relatively harmless disease cowpox did not contract smallpox. Voltaire, French philosopher and a champion of civil rights, has recorded that 60% of people caught smallpox, with 20% of the population dying of it. In the second half of 18th century, many villages and towns in Europe perished because of this monstrous disease. People were terribly frightened by the consequences of the fatal disease small pox. They vacated their villages to safeguard their lives. When inoculation to arrest this fatal disease was proposed, though it was risky, people came forward to be protected from this deadly disease and have disfigured pockmarks on their faces.

Jenner’s vaccination

It was at this time that Jenner came with a solution to small pox through vaccination. He heard about variolation against small pox practiced in Turkey. Lady Mary Wortley, wife of the British ambassador to Turkey, was in Istanbul during 1716-1718 on vacation. She observed the practice of variolation in Turkey and she conveyed this idea to the British physicians. Another incident that inspired Jenner was a local folklore that said dairymaids who had contracted cowpox were immune to small pox. Encouraged by the idea brought by Lady Wortley and the folklore, he decided to see if he could adapt the Turkish practice of inoculation to prevent the spread and devastation of smallpox.

In May of 1796 he tried vaccination on an 8 year-old son of a local farmer. The boy caught cowpox and Jenner inoculated him with small pox vaccination. To the great surprise of all, the boy did not contract the disease. Confidently he began to try the vaccination on others. The death rate from smallpox fell and there was a sigh of relief throughout Europe.

Jenner’s hard work applauded

World recognized Jenner’s discovery and honored him with so many titles. He was appointed Physician Extraordinary to King George IV, a considerable national honor, and was given the honorary post of Mayor of Berkeley. Jenner continued his researches in natural history. He submitted his research work on the Migration of Birds to the Royal Society in 1823.

Jenner was doing researches and enlightening the world till his last breath. He died of an apparent stroke on 26 January 1823, at the age 73. Though he died two centuries ago, his researches are still guiding the medical world.

Sources:
1) Wikipedia
2) http://www.answers.com/topic/edward-jenner