Revolutionizing Medical TreatmentsBefore the vaccine, we had no other treatments for smallpox except for variolation – which was not very effective in the first place, and sometimes catastrophic. In the May of 1796, Edward Jenner found a dairy maid with fresh cowpox lesions on her hands and used the pus to inoculate an 8-year-old boy. The boy experienced mild sickness and loss of appetite – which were the symptoms of cowpox – for 9 days, but on the tenth day, he was healthy again. In July, he inoculated the same boy again, this time with smallpox pus. The disease didn't develop, and Jenner concluded that the process granted protection from smallpox. His work was rejected by the general population initially, but despite the controversy, it was soon accepted.
Now, the same concept is being used to fight any disease. Our bodies are strong enough to fight a minor form of a disease, so when we are exposed to it, we become immune to all forms of the disease. Edward Jenner’s word revolutionized the way we treat diseases, and without him, there is no doubt that we would still be plagued by smallpox. |