Smallpox

10,000 years ago, a deadly virus emerged in northeastern Africa. This virus was transmitted through the air, attacking the skin cells, bone marrow, spleen, and lymph nodes of its victims. Those unfortunate enough to be infected experienced fevers, vomiting, and rashes.

Approximately 30% of the infected individuals lost their lives during the second week of the infection. Survivors were left with permanent scars and scabs. This was the arrival of smallpox.

The first smallpox epidemics occurred around 1350 B.C. during the Egypt-Hittite war. Egyptian prisoners transmitted smallpox to the Hittites, resulting in the death of their king and the collapse of their civilization.

Subsequently, smallpox stealthily made its way around the world. It spread through Egyptian merchants and then through the Arab world with the Crusades, eventually reaching the Americas through Spanish and Portuguese conquests.

Throughout history, smallpox has claimed the lives of billions of people. In the 20th century alone, an estimated 300 to 500 million individuals perished due to this disease.

However, smallpox was not invincible. In fact, the downfall of smallpox began long before modern medicine came into play.

It all started back in 1022 A.D. with a small book called "The Correct Treatment of Smallpox." This book described a peculiar practice carried out by a Buddhist nun residing in the renowned O Mei Shan mountain in the southern province of Sichuan.

The nun would grind smallpox scabs into powder and blow it into the nostrils of healthy individuals. She had noticed that those who survived smallpox never contracted the disease again, and her unorthodox treatment proved effective. This procedure, known as variolation, gradually evolved over time.

By the 1700s, doctors were taking material from smallpox sores and introducing it into healthy individuals through four or five scratches on the arm. While this method worked reasonably well and prevented reinfection, it was not foolproof. Up to three percent of those exposed to the pus still succumbed to the disease.

It wasn't until the observant English physician Edward Jenner made a fascinating discovery about dairy maids that a breakthrough in combating smallpox occurred.

During his apprenticeship to a country surgeon and apothecary in Sodbury, near Bristol, Jenner overheard a dairy maid proclaim, "I shall never have smallpox, for I have had cowpox. I shall never have an ugly, pockmarked face." Cowpox is a skin disease that resembles smallpox and affects cows.

Later, as a physician, Jenner realized that the dairy maid's claim held truth. Women who contracted cowpox did not develop the deadly smallpox. Both smallpox and cowpox viruses belong to the same family. When a virus infects an unfamiliar host, such as cowpox infecting a human, it becomes less virulent.

Based on this understanding, Jenner decided to investigate whether the cowpox virus could be employed to protect against smallpox.

In May 1796, Jenner encountered a young dairy maid named Sarah Nelmes, who had fresh cowpox lesions on her hand and arm after contact with a cow named Blossom. Using matter from Sarah's pustules, he inoculated James Phipps, the eight-year-old son of his gardener.

After a few days of fever and discomfort, the boy appeared to recover. Two months later, Jenner inoculated James again, this time with matter from a fresh smallpox lesion. No disease developed, leading Jenner to conclude that complete protection had been achieved. His plan had succeeded.

Jenner subsequently utilized the cowpox virus on several other individuals and exposed them to smallpox multiple times, confirming their immunity to the disease. This marked the invention of the smallpox vaccination by Jenner.

Unlike variolation, which employed actual smallpox virus to provide protection, vaccination utilized the far less dangerous cowpox virus. The medical community, cautious then as it is today, deliberated extensively on Jenner's findings before accepting them.

However, over time, vaccination gradually gained acceptance, and variolation was prohibited in England in 1840. Following extensive vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the World Health Organization officially declared smallpox eradicated in 1979.

Jenner is forever honored as the father of immunology, but we must not forget the contributions of the Buddhist nun, dairy maid Sarah Nelmes, and James Phipps, who all played heroic roles in the remarkable journey of vaccination that led to the eradication of smallpox.