louis wendlin sauer discovered the vaccine for the prevention of smallpox.
who discovered the vaccine for the prevention of smallpox?
louis wendlin sauer
the english physician edward jenner demonstrated the effectiveness of cowpox to protect humans from smallpox in 1796, after which various attempts were made to eliminate smallpox on a regional scale. in russia in 1796, the first child to receive this treatment was bestowed the name "vaccinov" by catherine the great, and was educated at the expense of the nation. the introduction of the vaccine to the new world took place in trinity, newfoundland in 1800 by dr. john clinch, boyhood friend and medical colleague of jenner. as early as 1803, the spanish crown organized the balmis expedition to transport the vaccine to the spanish colonies in the americas and the philippines, and establish mass vaccination programs there. the u.s. congress passed the vaccine act of 1813 to ensure that safe smallpox vaccine would be available to the american public. by about 1817, a very solid state vaccination program existed in the dutch east indies. in british india a program was launched to propagate smallpox vaccination, through indian vaccinators, under the supervision of european officials. nevertheless, british vaccination efforts in india, and in burma in particular, were hampered by stubborn indigenous preference for inoculation and distrust of vaccination, despite tough legislation, improvements in the local efficacy of the vaccine and vaccine preservative, and education efforts. by 1832, the federal government of the united states established a smallpox vaccination program for native americans. in 1842, the united kingdom banned inoculation, later progressing to mandatory vaccination. the british government introduced compulsory smallpox vaccination by an act of parliament in 1853. in the united states, from 1843 to 1855 first massachusetts, and then other states required smallpox vaccination. although some disliked these measures, coordinated efforts against smallpox went on, and the disease continued to diminish in the wealthy countries. in northern europe a number of countries had eliminated smallpox by 1900, and by 1914, the incidence in most industrialized countries had decreased to comparatively low levels. vaccination continued in industrialized countries, until the mid to late 1970s as protection against reintroduction. australia and new zealand are two notable exceptions; neither experienced endemic smallpox and never vaccinated widely, relying instead on protection by distance and strict quarantines.
smallpox
in the years from 1770 to 1790, at least six people who had contact with a cow had independently tested the possibility of using the cowpox vaccine as an immunization for smallpox in humans. amongst them were the english farmer benjamin jesty, in dorset in 1774 and the german teacher peter plett in 1791. jesty inoculated his wife and two young sons with cowpox, in a successful effort to immunize them to smallpox, an epidemic of which had arisen in their town. his patients who had contracted and recovered from the similar but milder cowpox (mainly milkmaids), seemed to be immune not only to further cases of cowpox, but also to smallpox. by scratching the fluid from cowpox lesions into the skin of healthy individuals, he was able to immunize those people against smallpox. reportedly, farmers and people working regularly with cattle and horses were often spared during smallpox outbreaks. investigations by the british army in 1790 showed that horse-mounted troops were less infected by smallpox than infantry, due to probable exposure to the similar horse pox virus ("variola equina"). by the early 19th century, more than 100,000 people in great britain had been vaccinated. the arm-to-arm method of transfer of the cowpox vaccine was also used to distribute jenner's vaccine throughout the spanish empire. spanish king charles iv's daughter had been stricken with smallpox in 1798, and after she recovered, he arranged for the rest of his family to be vaccinated. in 1803, the king, convinced of the benefits of the vaccine, ordered his personal physician francis xavier de balmis, to deliver it to the spanish dominions in north and south america. to maintain the vaccine in an available state during the voyage, the physician recruited 22 young boys who had never had cowpox or smallpox before, aged three to nine years, from the orphanages of spain. during the trip across the atlantic, de balmis vaccinated the orphans in a living chain. two children were vaccinated immediately before departure, and when cowpox pustules had appeared on their arms, material from these lesions was used to vaccinate two more children.
cowpox