Charles Edward Page

Charles Edward Page was an American physician, hydrotherapist, natural hygiene advocate and anti-vaccinationist who practiced medicine while promoting alternative approaches including hydrotherapy and therapeutic fasting. He argued publicly against smallpox vaccination, contending that physicians mistook coincidence for evidence when they credited vaccination rather than improved sanitation for the decline of the disease, and he was a prominent critic of germ theory within the natural hygiene movement. His career illustrates the genuine disputes within nineteenth century American medicine over vaccination, sanitation and the causes of disease. Born 23 February 1840 in Norridgewock, Maine, he died 23 November 1925 in Melrose Highlands, Massachusetts.