THE DISCOVERY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
«I am not surprised that men are not thankful to me; but I wonder that they are not grateful to God for the good which he has made me the instrument of conveying to my fellow-creatures».
Edward Jenner
Nowadays, the topic of vaccination is still as relevant as it was several centuries ago, when the issues of immunity were just beginning to be raised in medicine. For three centuries, humanity has learned how to prevent the spread of many infectious diseases and even completely defeated some deadly viruses. The COVID-19 pandemic in recent years has pushed societies to reconsider the importance of vaccination. The development of technology and the deepening of knowledge about viruses and vaccines have opened up new horizons for the creation of more effective and safe vaccines. This is especially relevant in the light of global migration and climate change which may contribute to the emergence of new infectious threats.
However, not everyone still shares the opinion about the effectiveness of vaccines. In conditions of low sickness rate, some people believe that vaccination is more dangerous than the disease itself. There are many opponents of vaccination. However, out of 14 million deaths from infections worldwide, about 3 million could still be prevented by vaccination. Despite this, the question of the dangers and benefits of vaccination remains open: neither its supporters nor its opponents find the most compelling argument that could convince everyone.
But in this essay I want to review the history of vaccination and recall how humanity managed to get on the right path in the fight against infections and viruses. Perhaps it is the appeal to the background of the topic that will help someone find the very argument.
The end of the XVIII century - the first half of the XIX century is considered the period of formation of clinical medicine, when absolutely new ideas about diseases arose, and methods of their diagnosis were significantly improved.
Science at that time relied on an empirical method of research; there was a lack of theoretical knowledge. The most common methods of conservative treatment were drug therapy, bloodletting, clysters and dietary prescriptions. But they were either ineffective, or they harmed patients more than they helped. Measures to combat infectious diseases were preventive in nature – these were sanitary and hygienic measures and quarantines.
The main disease of the XVIII century was smallpox. For centuries, smallpox has been the scourge of mankind; unlike other epidemic diseases, it did not disappear and remained as dangerous as before. In the XVIII century alone, it claimed more than 60 million lives and over 300 million lives for all time, and a third of the survivors were blind. Smallpox outbreaks occurred everywhere, practically escalating into epidemics, regardless of the level of wealth and social status of their victims. Monarchs and their families were dying, and in North America smallpox caused the mass extinction of Indians.
At that time, all that was known about smallpox was that it was contagious and that people who contracted the disease and defeated it were no longer infected with it. Today we know the explanation for this: immunity is generated during the disease. Consequently, the only available treatment for smallpox was preventive in nature and consisted of contact between a healthy person and a sick person so that a healthy person could get infected and get sick in a controlled environment, waiting until he overcame it and became resistant to smallpox. However, in most cases, this clearly did not work, many people could not tolerate infection with smallpox and died.
Variolation, an artificial infection with smallpox, was used in the East, when a small amount of liquid from a smallpox bladder was injected into a superficial incision of the skin, which usually led to a mild disease and subsequent immunity. This type of artificial infection was introduced in England as early as 1717, and this practice became widespread, but the results were not always reliable, sometimes the disease was severe. Moreover, it did not allow to get rid of the disease itself.
The solution to the problem was found by the English rural doctor Edward Jenner (1749-1823). He discovered the method of specific prevention of smallpox and became the father of vaccination.
Edward Anthony Jenner was born in England in the town of Berkeley, in the county of Gloucestershire. His father, the Reverend Stephen Jenner, was the vicar of Berkeley, so Edward received a good primary education, and then studied with the talented rural surgeon Mr. Ludlow in Sodbury.
When Jenner graduated he was sent to London to become a boarding student again, this time in the house of the physician and anatomist John Hunter. There he learned the basics of surgery, studying anatomy and visiting with patients of one of the hospitals, as well as working with samples of organisms.
Despite his passionate interest in medicine, Jenner did not go to university and at the age of 23 he returned to Berkeley where he began practicing as a doctor and surgeon. In the meantime, thanks to the knowledge gained from Hunter, he had a fairly successful practice in Berkeley, becoming one of the most famous doctors in the district.
But the most important thing of this period, both for Jenner himself and for all mankind, was the study of the origin and treatment of smallpox in 1796. It was at this time that her strongest epidemic began, which forced Edward to throw all his strength into the study of this infection.
It was in the study of smallpox that Edward realized a small detail that forever changed the history of medicine: Jenner noticed that some cows had rashes on their udders, as if they were sick. And he also noticed that some of the women who milked them also had pustules on their hands, very similar to both those of cows and those of people with smallpox. It was clear that there was some kind of connection.
The story of Jenner's main discovery is well known: in May 1796, Jenner met a milkmaid who had fresh wounds from smallpox on her hands. Taking liquid from a smallpox bubble on the milkmaid's skin, he infected James Phipps, the eight-year-old son of his gardener, who had never been ill with ordinary smallpox. Phipps suffered the disease quite easily for nine days, and on the tenth he completely recovered.
Six weeks later Jenner vaccinated the boy again, but this time he used a liquid from a smallpox vial from a person who had smallpox. The results confirmed the suspicions of the English doctor: the child was completely protected, and no symptoms of this terrible disease appeared. And subsequent attempts to infect James proved that the vaccination works.
By modern standards, the experiment conducted by Jenner was ethically completely unacceptable. The story of testing Jenner's new method on his own son is also full of contradictory versions. According to one, the doctor confirmed his correctness, according to another, Jenner conducted an experiment with his son even before the experiments with the village boy, and using the material of smallpox, not cowpox, and as a result of infection, the child turned into a frail, sickly creature suffering from mental retardation, and died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-one.
Anyway, after discovering that cowpox infection allows a person to protect themselves from smallpox naturally, Jenner later did the same with twenty-three other people until he could confirm that it helps prevent smallpox. Edward Jenner, with the help of this controversial experiment in every sense, discovered vaccines. So, the word “vaccination" owes its appearance to Jenner, as it comes from the Latin "vacca", which means "cow".
The results of the experiments were presented by the scientist in the work "Study of the effects and effects of smallpox vaccine", published in 1798. The book had an amazing effect and caused the most contradictory reactions - from a barrage of harsh criticism to admiration and all kinds of praise. The religious community vehemently opposed the fact that the material of "lower beings" is introduced into the human body. And progressive science recognized that Jenner's discovery was a revolution in the fight against smallpox and an invaluable contribution to medicine and microbiology.
Edward made every effort to spread the knowledge about vaccination as widely as possible. After investigating several cases Jenner privately published a book entitled "A Study of the Effects and Effects of the Smallpox Vaccine". In 1807, the Royal College of Physicians confirmed the effectiveness of vaccines. The state has agreed to finance vaccinations for infants free of charge. It is significant that this was the first free medical procedure in Britain on a national scale. Very soon, vaccination with cowpox began to be used not only in England, but also around the world.
Alternative historical data emphasize that the terrible unprecedented epidemic of smallpox in the 1870s, which occurred against the background of an almost totally vaccinated British population, completely dispelled vaccination illusions. The indignation of the opponents of mandatory vaccination was so great that in 1896 the National Anti-Vaccination League was created. In response to this, the Imperial Vaccination League was established in 1888, which launched an active propaganda work. At the end of the XIX century, it was discovered that vaccination does not protect immunity for life and that the use of subsequent vaccines is necessary. This was also indicated by the fact that the mortality from smallpox had decreased but the epidemics were not completely under control.
Whatever the arguments of both sides, we will rely on the fact that today the disease has practically disappeared from the face of the earth. The process of global eradication of this disease really began to take place when the World Health Assembly in 1958 received a report on the effects of smallpox in more than 60 countries. In 1967, a global campaign was launched under the auspices of the World Health Organization. Finally, in 1977, smallpox was successfully eliminated. The last fact of infection was recorded in 1977, and since then the virus is officially considered defeated.
So, Edward Jenner laid the foundation of vaccination and is considered its "father". He received a medical degree in "Research of Folk Remedies" from St. Andrews University, became an honorary member of scientific societies in Great Britain and other countries. He received academic degrees, awards from the government and even founded the Institute of Smallpox Vaccination which he led until the end of his days. The scientist died in 1823 from a stroke.
In addition, as a sign of gratitude to the doctor, his memory is immortalized not only in numerous statues standing in different parts of the planet, but also in the form of a crater on the Moon bearing his name. And even in Russia, there is a street and a Jenner Lane in the city of Ostrov, Pskov region.
I believe that active and proper vaccination promotion and popularization of a healthy lifestyle will help humanity realize the need for vaccination.
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