Devil Doc
When Death smiles, Corpsmen smile back
It was on this day in 1796 that the doctor Edward Jenner inoculated an eight-year-old boy with a vaccine for smallpox, the first safe vaccine ever developed.
Smallpox was the most devastating disease in the world at the time—a disease that caused boils to break out all over the body. It killed about one in every four adults who caught it, and one in every three children. It was so contagious that most human beings in populous areas caught it at some point in their lives. During the 18th century alone, it killed about 60 million people.
Jenner submitted a paper about his new inoculation procedure to the prestigious Royal Society of London, but it was rejected. So Jenner published his ideas at his own expense in a 75-page book that came out in 1798. The book was a huge sensation. The procedure eventually caught on, and it was called a "vaccine" after the Latin word for cow. It wasn't perfect at first, because of poor sanitation and dirty needles, but it was the first time anyone had successfully prevented the infection of any contagious disease.
What made it so remarkable was that Jenner accomplished this before the causes of disease were even understood. It would be decades before anyone even knew about the existence of germs.
Doc.
Smallpox was the most devastating disease in the world at the time—a disease that caused boils to break out all over the body. It killed about one in every four adults who caught it, and one in every three children. It was so contagious that most human beings in populous areas caught it at some point in their lives. During the 18th century alone, it killed about 60 million people.
Jenner submitted a paper about his new inoculation procedure to the prestigious Royal Society of London, but it was rejected. So Jenner published his ideas at his own expense in a 75-page book that came out in 1798. The book was a huge sensation. The procedure eventually caught on, and it was called a "vaccine" after the Latin word for cow. It wasn't perfect at first, because of poor sanitation and dirty needles, but it was the first time anyone had successfully prevented the infection of any contagious disease.
What made it so remarkable was that Jenner accomplished this before the causes of disease were even understood. It would be decades before anyone even knew about the existence of germs.
Doc.
