Heroes and Cultural Identity Project

SCE Heroes - Edward Jenner

Edward Jenner

The man who discovered Vaccination

The first discovery of the first Vaccination (or immunisation as it is otherwise known) was by in1796.
The idea of vaccination came from trying to prevent infection of smallpox.

Edward Jenner noticed that cows on a farm where he worked were contracting a disease with similar side effects to smallpox; this inspired further research from which he discovered milkmaids were also suffering from smallpox.
Jenner's first idea to try and eradicate smallpox was to make a small incision into the sufferers arm and rub on variolous matter; it was found that the symptoms began to disappear after time even in the most severe smallpox cases.

Vaccination is the artificial induction of immunity in the body to protect against germs and disease. Antibodies are formed by the immune system, and because the body has already been exposed to the inactive disease, future contraction of the disease provokes the antibodies to effectively kill the germs.

Edward Jenner also influenced Louis Pasteur who created the first vaccine for rabies, anthrax and cholera. The vaccination for yellow fever and the breakthrough of experimental vaccines for patients which have already contracted disease like Alzheimer's, AIDS and forms of Cancer were also discovered using bases from Jenner's work.

Erin McGregor is a science student following a one year university access course in biological sciences.