Edward Jenner was an English physician and naturalist who on May 14, 1796 tested cowpox inoculation as protection against smallpox, using material taken from a sore on milkmaid Sarah Nelmes to inoculate eight-year-old James Phipps. Jenner was not the first to notice or test the cowpox connection: English physician John Fewster had recognized by 1768 that prior cowpox infection conferred smallpox immunity, and at least five other investigators, including farmer Benjamin Jesty in 1774, had already tested a cowpox vaccine on humans; Jenner's distinction was to investigate the effect systematically and publish and campaign for it, and vaccination bears his method's name as a result. Jenner was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1788, before his vaccination work, for a careful study of the previously misunderstood breeding behavior of the cuckoo, a natural history credential this atlas notes but does not itself cover. This atlas records what the historical record supports and is not medical advice.
Facts
Birth YearBorn May 17, 1749. Death YearDied January 26, 1823 of an apparent stroke. Edward Jenner
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FAQs
Was Edward Jenner the first person to use cowpox against smallpox?
No. Others had tested cowpox earlier, but Jenner studied it systematically and campaigned for it, and vaccination is named for his method.
No. English physician John Fewster had recognized by 1768 that prior cowpox infection conferred smallpox immunity, and at least five other investigators, including farmer Benjamin Jesty in 1774, had already tested a cowpox vaccine on humans. On May 14, 1796 Jenner inoculated eight-year-old James Phipps with material from a sore on milkmaid Sarah Nelmes. His distinction was to investigate the effect systematically and publish and campaign for it, and vaccination bears his method's name as a result.
Connections
Associated With
Jenner did not develop variolation; his safer 1796 cowpox vaccine replaced it.
Source Wikipedia: Variolation
Discoveries
Why this is disputed. Jenner's 1796 test on James Phipps is the standard credited origin of vaccination and the one this atlas's Vaccination entry is built around, but Jenner was not the first to test cowpox inoculation: English physician John Fewster recognized the cowpox-smallpox immunity connection by 1768, and farmer Benjamin Jesty successfully tested a cowpox vaccine on his own family in 1774, twenty-two years before Jenner. Jenner's distinction is the systematic scientific investigation, publication and advocacy that made the practice known and adopted, not priority of first attempt.
Source WikipediaWikipedia contributors
Additional Source Edward Jenner (Wikipedia)
Source The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of HumanityRoy Porter
Specialist In
Jenner's vaccination work is foundational to the epidemiological control of infectious disease, though he practiced as a rural general physician.
Source WikipediaWikipedia contributors
Additional Source Edward Jenner (Wikipedia)
Source History of Vaccines: Edward Jenner Overview
Source Infectious Disease Subspecialties Career Information
Vaccination against smallpox is a founding case of primary prevention.
Source History of Vaccines: Edward Jenner Overview
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Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
2. Edward Jenner (Wikipedia)
Infobox, birth_date
17 May 1749
Infobox: death_date
January 26, 1823
Lead section
Edward Jenner (17 May 1749 - 26 January 1823) was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine.
- Specialist In: Epidemiology
- Discoveries: Vaccination
View the SourceThe Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
Roy Porter, W. W. Norton and Company, 1997Discoveries: Vaccination
Infectious Disease Subspecialties Career Information
American College of PhysiciansSpecialist In: Infectious DiseaseView the Source History of Vaccines: Edward Jenner Overview
College of Physicians of PhiladelphiaSpecialist In: ImmunologyView the Source Wikipedia: Variolation
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