Tagged with Edward Jenner

Resource : Weir smallpox vaccinator

In the 1700s smallpox was probably the single most lethal disease in Britain – especially among children. But in 1796 Edward Jenner made a discovery that would eradicate the disease and lead to a revolution in public health – it would become known as vaccination.

He noticed that dairymaids who caught a minor disease called cowpox, from infected cows, seemed immune to smallpox – a common but much more serious disease.