“[I was] ...the instrument destined to take away from the world one of its greatest calamities..."
Edward Jenner, scientist and doctor
As Edward Jenner (1749-1823) was growing up in England, smallpox had again become prevalent and was ravaging London and the countryside. Jenner became a doctor, practicing in Gloucestershire where he became interested in the link between cowpox and smallpox. Milkmaids who contracted the non- deadly cowpox seemed immune to smallpox, and Jenner, intrigued by this, began to investigate the link.
In May 1796, milkmaid Sarah Nelmes contracted cowpox from her cow, and pus-filled blisters covered her hands and arms. She visited Dr. Jenner. Realizing his opportunity to test the protective properties of cowpox on someone who had not contracted smallpox, Jenner took some pus from Sarah and applied it to scratches made on the arm of a young boy, James Phipps. Some days later Phipps came down with a mild form of cowpox, proving that the disease was transferable between people. Jenner then injected Phipps with smallpox, and although the boy became ill, he recovered quickly and completely.
Many more experiments confirmed the results, and in 1798 Jenner published his findings. At first there was reluctance amongst the medical industry to use his methods, but the results were too conclusive to ignore. In 1853 an Act of Parliament made vaccination with cowpox compulsory, and the numbers of people dying from smallpox dropped dramatically.
