This review describes the background to Jenner's first vaccination, his later work, and the dissemination of information about vaccination and the vaccine itself. Although based on relatively slender evidence, Jenner's theories were basically sound and he merits the credit given him. Given the circumstances, particularly the slow speed of travel and the lack of information about the duration of immunity, vaccination became established very quickly in many countries.

The Jenner bicentenary: the introduction and early distribution of smallpox vaccine

The rapid pace of vaccine development in recent decades often leads to neglect of the historic origins of immunization, particularly the epochal contribution by Edward Jenner (Fig 1). Jenner, a country physician, invented vaccination with cowpox to replace the fearful dangers of inoculation with smallpox. This development resulted in immunity to smallpox and ushered in the era of preventive measures for contagious diseases ( World Health News . May 1980). 1 This article focuses on the events in Jenner's life; the history and effects of smallpox, inoculation, and vaccination; and the English physician's great contributions to public health, virology, immunology, and the end of a deadly disease. SMALLPOX The mortality, blindness, and horrible facial disfigurement that are characterized by smallpox (Fig 2) date to remote times in Asia, Africa, and China and were evident in an Egyptian mummy buried in 1200bc. Rhazes (845-930), a Persian physician, wrote the earliest description of

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Medicine in the early 1900's.