Geeks in History: Edward Jenner
Have you had smallpox or know someone who has? Chances are that unless you’re very old, the answer to both of those questions is a resounding “no”. Smallpox is one of two diseases declared eradicated by the World Health Organization (the other being one called rinderpest). We have Edward Jenner to thank for the vaccine for smallpox. Who was he? Keep reading!
Edward Jenner
Edward Anthony Jenner was born on May 17, 1749 (May 6, Old Style Calendar) in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, the eighth of nine children born to a clergyman. His father died when Jenner was 5, and so his eldest brother, also in the clergy, raised him and his siblings. At 13 years old, he trained in Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire as an apprentice to a surgeon, Daniel Ludlow, and remained with him for 8 years. The two men remained friends until Hunter passed on in 1793, exchanging correspondence after Jenner moved on. It was from Hunter that the young doctor learned the advice of William Harvey: “Don’t think, try”.
Jenner studied in London from 1770 to 1773, and then returned to Berkeley to his own private practice, joining several medical societies, publishing papers, reading the medical documents of his contemporaries, and enjoyed observing nature, especially the habits of cuckoos and bird migration. He collected specimens for Hunter as well, and he married in 1788 to Cathrine Kingscote. His observational skills proved useful in his career, and led to his important discovery.
Smallpox - Bangladesh 1973
Smallpox was widespread in the 18th century, had an enormous death rate, and was not limited by social class or location.Voltaire recorded that 60% of the population had it while 20% died from it. It was Jenner’s observation that those who had been sick with cowpox, a relatively harmless virus passed by cows to humans, did not contract smallpox. On May 14, 1796, he tested his theory by taking a sample of material from the hand of Sarah Nelmes, a milkmaid who had caught cowpox from a cow called Blossom, and used it to inoculate the 8 year old James Phipps. The boy had a fever and felt ill, but wasn’t really sick. Then Jenner injected him with variolous material (from smallpox) with no disease following. This was done again later with the same results. Jenner went on to test this on 23 other subjects, and after several papers to the Royal Society, the results were finally published and accepted. This led to the standard variolation (a form of inoculation using smallpox) to be replaced by vaccination in 1840.
He successfully petitioned the King for a £10,000 grant to work more on his vaccination, and then was awarded another £20,000 to continue. In 1803 he worked with the Jennerian Institute which later became the National Vaccine Establishment, and in 1806, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. After returning to London in 1811, he did note that some vaccinated people did contract smallpox, but the severity was diminished and mortality rates were lower. He was appointed Physician Extraordinary to King George IV and was made Mayor of Berkeley and Justice of the Peace In 1821.
After Jenner’s wife died of tuberculosis in 1815, he retired from public life. He was found in a state of apoplexy on January 25, 1823, paralyzed on his right side. He died of a stroke on January 26, 1823 at age 73, survived by a daughter and son, his eldest son having already died of tuberculosis at age 21. His legacy continues to live to this day, however. In 1979, WHO declared smallpox eradicated, the only samples remaining are in laboratories belonging to the Center for Disease Control and the Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR. His work paved the way for modern research into immunology. Because of Edward Jenner, you only have to read about the disease with no fear of ever catching it.
Geeks in History is a biweekly column about notable geeks of the past and how they impacted modern life.
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