Smallpox:

This is an acute contagious disease that is caused by the variola virus
Smallpox was declared eradicated following a global vaccination campaign in 1980 led by the World Health Organisation
In earlier times, 30-60% of those who caught smallpox died
Smallpox had long been endemic in Britain from the 17th century
- 1796 - an endemic killed 35,000
- 1837-1840 - 42,000 were killed
- Queen Mary died of smallpox in 1694
Vaccinations date from the 18th century but before that inoculations were utilised
Lady Mary Montagu, whose husband was the Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, introduced the inoculation to England in 1721
An inoculation involved introducing a mild form of smallpox to the body, so that the person would fight of the disease and become resistant to stronger versions

Edward Jenner:

Jenner was a country doctor from Gloucestershire who studied in London. Through his experiments on local people he found a cure for smallpox:

He chose a 9 year old boy, James Phipps, who had neither cowpox or smallpox
He injected the boy with pus from the sores of a milkmaid who had cowpox
James developed cowpox but then recovered
Jenner then gave James a dose of smallpox; turns out James was immune to the smallpox
Jenner proved that an injection of cowpox prevented smallpox

He submitted a paper to the Royal Society in 1797 but was asked for more evidence. Jenner carried out more experiments keeping detail of all that happened. In 1798, he published An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variola Vaccine, or Cow-Pox. In 1807. the Royal College of Physicians confirmed the success of the vaccine.

Impact of the vaccine:

Many felt it was wrong to inject pox into humans, while others argued this was God's punishment and people should not interfere
Others thought it should be up to the parents to decided whether to treat their children or not
1840 - as a result of the deadly epidemic since 1837, the vaccination was made free to all infants
1852 - the vaccination was made compulsory, but not strictly enforced
An anti-vaccine league was established in 1866 in opposition of compulsory vaccination
1871 - the government introduced fines for parents not vaccinating their children
1887 - once the death rate had dramatically reduced, the government introduced the right for parents to refuse vaccination