Smallpox: The Disease

Medicine Through Time – Jenner and the Smallpox Vaccine, 1749-1823

In this course, Dr Robert Gaynes (Emory University) looks at smallpox and Edward Jenner’s development of the smallpox vaccine. In the first module, we focus on the disease smallpox, its origin and its symptomatic progression. In the second module, we look at the history of smallpox, focusing in particular on its impact on South America and the leading figures of Europe. In the third module, we then turn to consider the early influences of Edward Jenner, taking a closer look at the first methods of treating smallpox and how Jenner’s vaccine emerged as a more successful alternative. In the fourth module, we look how Jenner came to discover that cowpox provided immunity against smallpox, before in the fifth module considering the reception of the smallpox vaccine in England and abroad. In the sixth and final module, we look at the impact that the smallpox vaccine has had, especially with regard to the eradication of smallpox.

Smallpox: The Disease

In this module, we look at smallpox the disease, focusing in particular on: (i) the symptomatic progression of smallpox; (ii) how smallpox was described by an eighteenth century physician to develop in a patient; (iii) how smallpox was described by the American historian, Frank Snowden, to develop in a patient; (iv) the severe consequences of smallpox, including facial scarring and blindness; and (v) the mortality rates of smallpox, according to age, ethnicity, and other factors.