Smallpox
Althought smallpox had been described several centuries ago in China and India, the modern history of smallpox holds
a unique place in medicine. It was one of the deadlist diseases known to humans, and to date the first and only
human disease to have been eradicated worldwide by vaccination. The smallpox vaccine was introduced by Edward
Jenner in May 1796 by testing the hypothesis that the infection with cowpox could protect a person from smallpox
infection. His work is widely regarded as the foundation of immunology-despite the fact that he was neither the first
to suggest that infection with cowpox conferred specific immunity to smallpox nor the first to attempt cowpox
inoculation for this purpose. Almost two centuries after Jenner, global vaccination had proved successful and the
WHO declared in 1980 that the disease had been eradicated. The world celebrated the 40th anniversary of that event in
2020. This event is a reminder of the power of international health cooperation to do significant and lasting good. WHO
believes that there are many lessons to learn form the eradication of smallpox that can help fight COVID-19 and
prepare for future pandemics.
Comments
Post a Comment