About the Book
On Vaccination Against Smallpox
The once-dreaded scourge of smallpox has been eradicated through barrier immunisation. The eminent scientist Edward Jenner (1749-1823) was a pioneer in demonstrating that vaccination was an effective means of preventing smallpox. In the three groundbreaking treatises contained in this volume, originally published between 1798 and 1800, Jenner summarises his evidence in favour of vaccination and describes individual cases.
Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths during the 20th century alone.[10][11][12] In the early 1950s an estimated 50 million cases of smallpox occurred in the world each year.[13] As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease and that two million died in that year.[13] After successful vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the WHO certified the eradication of smallpox in December 1979.[13] To this day, smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been eradicated
About the Author
Edward Jenner, 1749-1823
Smallpox is an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor.[1] The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning spotted, or varus, meaning "pimple". The term "smallpox" was first used in Europe in the 15th century to distinguish variola from the "great pox" (syphilis).[2]
Smallpox localizes in small blood vessels of the skin and in the mouth and throat. In the skin, this results in a characteristic maculopapular rash, and later, raised fluid-filled blisters. V. major produces a more serious disease and has an overall mortality rate of 30–35%. V. minor causes a milder form of disease (also known as alastrim, cottonpox, milkpox, whitepox, and Cuban itch) which kills about 1% of its victims.[3][4] Long-term complications of V. major infection include characteristic scars, commonly on the face, which occur in 65–85% of survivors.[5] Blindness resulting from corneal ulceration and scarring, and limb deformities due to arthritis and osteomyelitis are less common complications, seen in about 2–5% of cases.
Smallpox is believed to have emerged in human populations about 10,000 BC.[2] The earliest physical evidence of smallpox is likely the pustular rash on the mummified body of Pharaoh Ramses V of Egypt, who died in 1157 BC.[6] During the 18th century the disease killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans per year (including five reigning monarchs),[7] and was responsible for a third of all blindness.[3][8] Of all those infected, 20–60%—and over 80% of infected children—died from the disease
