Edward Jenner

process that stimulates the body’s immune system to defend against attack by a particular contagious disease” (Berger 107). In 1796, an English doctor by the name of Edward Jenner administered what we know today as the very first vaccination. Edward Jenner hypothesized that a disease called cowpox could have immunity against smallpox. Jenner tested his hypothesis on an 8-year-old little boy named James Phipps by…

enters the land of microbes - a world of germs. Modern medicine does what it can to protect the infant. Its main bulwark against disease is the vaccine. Heralded by some, and cursed by others, the history of vaccines is rich. Starting with Edward Jenner and his pioneering achievement of the smallpox immunization, many lives have been spared from disease due to the vaccine. Since Jenner’s achievement, other vaccines have been introduced, and the incidence rate for several diseases has…

Edward Jenner was born on May 17, 1749 in Berkeley, England, the youngest of six children. His father, a clergyman, died when Jenner was only five years old; subsequently, Jenner was raised by his older brother who was also a clergyman. Jenner had a love for nature that stayed with him throughout his life. At the age of 13, Jenner was apprenticed to a nearby surgeon in Chipping Sodbury for eight years. Throughout his apprenticeship, Jenner acquired a solid understanding of medical and surgical…

Jenner observed that milkmaids became infected with cowpox, but not smallpox when smallpox outbreaks occurred in the community (Stern & Markel, 2005). Edward Jenner decided to test this observation using cowpox (Stern & Markel, 2005). In 1796, Jenner took pus from a cowpox lesion and inoculated James Phipps, who was eight years old at the time (Stern & Markel, 2005). Edward Jenner inoculated Phipps with smallpox several weeks after the inoculation…

turn to blisters. In severe cases blisters form around the eyelids and cause blindness. According to the World Health Organization smallpox has a mortality rate of 30%. In 1796 Edward Jenner developed the first smallpox vaccine using the cowpox virus. Cowpox is a disease similar to smallpox but much less severe. Jenner used pus from the hands of a milkmaid infected with cowpox to inoculate…

early 1700s, this method then moved onto Turkey where the royal family on the throne embraced the idea and had themselves inoculated. Moving into the late 1700s, this vaccination idea spread its way to England. In England, a young gentleman named Edward Jenner noticed that if you had cowpox, you never contracted smallpox, so he tested his theory. He used variolation against cowpox on a small boy, then he used it again but against smallpox on the same boy. The boy remained healthy and this method…

that vaccines can and do prevent other harmful illnesses, and can even eradicate them. Vaccines have changed the life-span of the human race, thus shaping Homo sapiens future as a whole. Though they have been credited to Edward Jenner, he cannot take all the credit. Edward Jenner was not the first person to provide to path to our vaccinations, but…

our lives relatively disease free and we owe so much of that to vaccines. Despite the overwhelming evidence, people still have questions and concerns. Which is okay. In 1798, smallpox was killing hundreds of thousands of people every year. Until Edward Jenner that milkmaids who had gotten cowpox, a less deadly form of the disease, didn’t get smallpox. This was the first vaccine. Vaccines are like training exercise for your body, They use dead or damaged viruses to provoke an immune response,…

Vaccinations have been used worldwide to prevent life-threatening diseases. Dr. Edward Jenner developed the first vaccination to cure smallpox; he did so by “injecting a dead or mild form of a virus or bacteria into the body in order to stimulate production of antibodies” (Lee and Carson-Dewitt). In case of infection later, these antibodies would provide additional protection. In the 18th century, smallpox was spreading rapidly; Jenner was able to create a vaccination to save lives by using…

Physicians and other health care professionals had to come up with a cure to save millions of lives during that time of crisis with very little resources and technology. Edward Jenner, a well-known English doctor, saved the world from small pox when he discovered a vaccination that stamped out obtaining the evil illness. Jenner used his strong observation expertise to watch…