Edward Jenner Research Paper

Edward Jenner

Edward Jenner is often regarded as the “Father of Immunology” for his development of the smallpox vaccine. His remarkable discovery has laid the foundation for future scientists working with immunizations. Jenner’s impact is seen worldwide to this day with the complete eradication of the deadly smallpox virus. Edward Jenner’s Legacy will always live on as the first to vaccinate using a live virus. Vaccines are improving everyday, which benefits the public’s health, all thanks to Edward Jenner.

Jenner was born on May 17, 1749, in Berkeley, a small town just outside of England. He was orphaned at the young age of 5 and lived with his older siblings in which he learned how to be independent. This also taught him perseverance,

During one of his earlier apprenticeships, Jenner noticed milkmaids with a disease called cowpox. Cowpox is a close relative to smallpox and is only mild in humans. Pustules appear on the hands and a basic cold is also brought on. At Jenner’s young age he was able to link these two viruses together and come up with a theory for immunization. In 1796, while still attending medical school, Jenner decided to test this theory between smallpox and cowpox. He used a dairymaid, who was a patient of his named Sarah Nelms, who had contracted cowpox and had ripe pustules on her hands. Jenner realized this was his opportunity to test someone who had not contracted smallpox yet. He picked an eight-year old boy named James Phipps to use as his test subject. He scraped open a spot of James' arm and rubbed in a dissected piece of Sarah Nelms pustule into the open wound. A couple days later James became ill with cowpox but was well again within a week. This test proved that cowpox could be spread between humans as well as cows. Jenner's next test would be if the cowpox virus gave James immunity against smallpox. On July 1st of 1796, Edward Jenner obtained an infected smallpox pustule and scratched the virus filled pus into James' arm. This technique of placing a virus into a patient is called variolation. James Phipps did not develop smallpox within the

The newly industrialized U.S. had also experienced an increase in urbanization that led to a decline in public health and sanitation. Diseases like smallpox and yellow fever quickly began to spread from city to city, taking the lives of innocent citizens. These outbreaks led to an eventual focus on public health and Jenner’s vaccine was distributed to help stop the spread of smallpox. This an example of how far Edward Jenner ideas were spread and the impact he had all over the globe.( Jennifer Stock, Vol 5: Development of a Nation,