“You have erased from the calendar of human afflictions one of its greatest. Yours is the comfortable reflection that mankind can never forget that you have lived.”
— Thomas Jefferson (1806)
In 1798, Edward Jenner published one of the most important documents in the history of medicine. It would save countless lives and change the way we respond to some of our most feared diseases.
Born in Berkeley in 1749, Edward Jenner spent his life making remarkable discoveries, driven by an intense curiosity about how everything worked and a desire to make the world a better place. In 1798 he published An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae, a Disease discovered in some of the Western Counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and known by the name of the Cow Pox, making known his investigations into how a mild disease, cowpox, could protect against the horrific smallpox virus. From the Latin word vacca, meaning “cow”, he called this new practice vaccination. Jenner devoted the rest of his life to helping others to carry out the practice and ensured that it was available free of charge to those who needed it most, converting a garden summerhouse into the world's first vaccination clinic. Jenner called it the Temple of Vaccinia.
Vaccination was soon being practised around the world and lives were saved. In 1966 the World Health Organisation decided to try to eradicate smallpox worldwide. Medics and scientists from all nations worked together to identify and trace cases of smallpox before vaccinating those who were at risk. By 1979 there were no new cases: a huge international effort had brought about the culmination of Jenner's work.
But the story doesn't end there. Inspired by Jenner, researchers continue to find vaccines to protect against other diseases and vaccination now saves between two and three million lives each and every year. It's one of the greatest discoveries of all, brought about by one man's curiosity and thirst for knowledge.
“No human being who has ever lived has saved more lives in history than the simple country doctor from Gloucestershire.”
— Andrew Marr (2012)