History, Medicine through time

Lesson 16 of 30

When did vaccination really start to

make a difference to health in Britain?

Mr Prudden
 The Cow-Pock—or—the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation, James Gillray, Wikimedia Commons

2
 Why was smallpox a problem?

● 11 nationwide epidemics in the 18th

century
● Highly contagious

Ricketts, "Diagnosis of smallpox": head of man, Wellcome Collection

gallery, Wikimedia Commons

3
 Attempts to prevent smallpox before Edward Jenner

Inoculation: When you deliberately infect yourself with a disease, in order to avoid a
more severe case of it later.

● Very expensive
● It didn’t always work

4
Edward Jenner
Cowpox: A disease causing red blisters on the skin,
similar to smallpox. It can be transmitted from cows to
humans.

Cowpox eruption, Pelkonen PM, Tarvainen K, Hynninen A, Edward Jenner. Oil painting, Iconographic
Kallio ERK, Henttonen H, Palva A, et al.,Wikimedia Commons Collections, Wikimedia Commons

5
 Edward Jenner’s experiment

1. James Phipps infected with cowpox.

2. Phipps infected with smallpox - he did not catch it.
3. Tested on more subjects.
4. He wrote up his findings in An Enquiry into the
Causes and Effects of the Variola Vaccinae.
5. He named his technique vaccination.

Jenner Phipps, Ernest Board, Wikimedia Commons

6
Some people attempted to inoculate themselves against smallpox by
catching a mild dose of the disease.
● Jenner infected more local people with cowpox to
further test his theory and published his findings.
● Jenner infected a local boy, James Phipps, with
cowpox.
● Jenner noticed that dairymaids he treated for cowpox
did not catch smallpox.
● Six weeks later Jenner inoculated James with
smallpox but James did not catch it.
● Some people attempted to inoculate themselves
against smallpox by catching a mild dose of the
disease.

7
Some people attempted to inoculate themselves against smallpox by catching a mild
dose of the disease.

Jenner noticed that dairymaids he treated for cowpox did not catch smallpox.

Jenner infected a local boy, James Phipps, with cowpox. 1796

Six weeks later Jenner inoculated James with smallpox but James did not catch it.

Jenner infected more local people with cowpox to further test his theory and 1798
published his findings.
8
 Reactions to Jenner’s vaccination

● Took time for people to accept

● People suspicious
● The Church
● Inoculators
● Anti-Jenner propaganda

Jenner and his two colleagues seeing off three anti-vaccinat, Wellcome
Collection gallery, Wikimedia Commons

9
 I think the artist was… (pick ‘in support
Jenner vaccinating against smallpox
of’ of OR ‘against’) Jenner’s vaccination
because he has shown in his picture…
[Hint: look at the patients faces]

Using my own knowledge, the artist

likely presented this opinion because…
[Hint: What couldn’t Jenner do to reassure
people?]

Challenge Q: Why do you think the

number of smallpox cases had fallen
dramatically by 1872?
The Cow-Pock—or—the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation, James Gillray, Wikimedia
Commons

10
The role of the government in enforcing vaccination

1840
The government makes
inoculation a crime Turning
Point

1871 1872
The government agrees
Public The British government
to provide children
Vaccinators are begin to enforce
with vaccinations at the
appointed compulsory vaccination
taxpayer’s expense
Comprehension Questions
1. What was James Phipps’ role in Jenner’s smallpox experiment?
2. What is the difference between smallpox inoculation and smallpox vaccination?
3. Why were inoculators against Jenner’s vaccination?
4. Why is 1872 an important year in preventing vaccination?
5. Challenge Q: How far do you agree that the government was more responsible than
Jenner for the success of the smallpox vaccination?
You may want to use the following sentence starters and hints to help you.
In some ways the government was more responsible than Jenner for the success of the
smallpox vaccination. For example…
However, in other ways Jenner was more responsible. For example…
Overall, I mostly agree that…
Pause the video, read the slides on the resource
worksheet and answer the comprehension
questions.

Resume once you’re finished

Comprehension Questions
1. What was James Phipps’ role in Jenner’s smallpox experiment?

James Phipps was Jenner’s test subject. In 1796, Jenner infected Phipps with cowpox.
He caught a mild dose of cowpox. Six weeks later Jenner attempted to infect Phipps with
smallpox but he did not catch it. Jenner then infected more local people with cowpox to
further prove his theory.
Comprehension Questions
2. What is the difference between smallpox inoculation and smallpox vaccination?
Smallpox inoculation was when people deliberately infected themselves with a small dose
of smallpox in order to avoid a more severe case of it later. Inoculators took pus from a
someone else's smallpox scab and rubbed it into a cut on the patient being inoculated. The
procedure was very expensive so only the very rich could afford and some people even
died from the small dose of smallpox they were given.

Smallpox vaccination was the process in which Jenner and public vaccinators infected
people with cowpox to prevent them catching smallpox. It was safer and more reliable than
inoculation.
Comprehension Questions
3. Why were inoculators against Jenner’s vaccination?

Inoculators were making fortunes inoculating people with small doses of smallpox.
Vaccination was a threat to their business. So they encouraged the media to print negative
things about vaccinations.
Comprehension Questions
4. Why is 1872 an important year in preventing vaccination?

Although opposition to vaccination continued throughout the 19 th century, government

backing meant the number of smallpox cases fell dramatically from 1872 when the
government enforced compulsory vaccinations. This was an important year because it
meant everyone had to be vaccinated for smallpox.
Comprehension Questions
5. Challenge Q: How far do you agree that the government was more responsible than
Jenner for the success of the smallpox vaccination?

Evidence to agree:
Their intervention meant smallpox cases dropped and vaccination became normal:
● In 1840 they made inoculation a crime and agreed to provide children with vaccinations
at the taxpayer’s expense.
● In 1871 they appointed Public Vaccinators.
● In 1872 they began to enforce compulsory vaccination.
Without government backing, opposition may have prevented vaccinations from preventing
future smallpox epidemics.
Comprehension Questions
5. Challenge Q: How far do youagree that the government was more responsible than
Jenner for the success of the smallpox vaccination?
Evidence to disagree:
Jenner’s actions were central to the success of the smallpox vaccination:
● His experiment on James Phipps and subsequent subjects led to the discovery that
cowpox prevents smallpox. Without his experiments, the smallpox threat could not have
been eliminated.
● In 1798 he wrote up his findings in ‘An Enquiry into the Causes and Effects of the
Variola Vaccinae’. Jenner made sure that the instructions for his new method were very
detailed so that other doctors would be able to follow them because he wanted people to
use the vaccination to prevent smallpox from spreading.
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