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1500
Practice of Smallpox Inoculation in China and India
There were several reports from the 1500s of practicing inoculation from smallpox in India and China. People at the time were grinding up scabs from smallpox, and then they would blow it into the nostrils of people. It is possible of another way to inoculate was to scratch matter from the sore of smallpox into the skin. It is undetermined when this practice began, but some sources say it could have begun as early as 200 BCE (CPP, 2023). -
The Introduction of Variolation in the United States
The outbreak of smallpox spread through Boston in 1721. 844 people died from smallpox, and Cotton Mather, the Minister in Boston, urged a physician named Zabdiel Boylston, to variolate 248 people. This began the introduction of variolation in the United States. Six people died from the variolation (CPP, 2023). -
Diphtheria Outbreak in New England
In 1735, an outbreak of a diphtheria epidemic spread through New England. There were cases found that entire families have died from the disease. In a town in New Hampshire, the rate of children under the age of 10, who died of diphtheria was 32% (CPP, 2023). -
Ship Put into Quarantine Outside of Philadelphia
People residing in Philadelphia knew that yellow fever was traced to the West Indies. A ship arrived from Barbados and was carefully examined. The captain reported the death of one of his sailors and another with possible yellow fever. The ship was held more than a mile away from the city and authorities prevented them to unload passengers or cargo. Holding the ship may have prevented the spread in Philadelphia (CPP, 2023). They didn’t realize at the time the ship was put into quarantine. -
George Washington Ordered Troops to Mandatory Inoculations
George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. His base headquarters was in Morristown, New Jersey, and he ordered troops to mandatory inoculations if they had not had a smallpox infection earlier in life. This mandatory was probably because Benedict Arnold’s troops were unable to capture Quebec from Britain when more than half of the colonial troops had contracted smallpox (CPP, 2023). -
Dr. Benjamin Rush Never Concluded That Mosquitoes Were to Blame
Yellow fever returned to Philadelphia after 31 years. The virus killed thousands of people over several months. The estimated number of cases was about 11,000 with a mortality rate of 10%. Dr. Benjamin Rush studied the symptoms and the spread of yellow fever. He kept thorough notes that included mosquitoes in “uncommonly numerous.” He never concluded that mosquitoes were related to yellow fever. He blamed pollution to be the problem such as the air (CPP, 2023). -
Edward Jenner Inoculates James Phipps with Cowpox
Edward Jenner developed a vaccine that would protect against smallpox. He suspected that inoculation with cowpox, related to smallpox, would protect people from the disease. On May 14, 1796, he inoculated eight-year-old James Phipps with cowpox from the hand of Sarah Nelmes, a milkmaid (Immunize.org, 2022). Phipps developed a local reaction and felt ill for a few days but fully recovered. On July 1796, Jenner inoculated Phipps with a fresh sore of smallpox and remained feeling well (CPP, 2023). -
The Philadelphia Lazaretto Quarantine Station
The Philadelphia Lazaretto Quarantine Station was built in 1799 for the yellow fever epidemic in 1793. It used to quarantine travelers by ship to Philadelphia who was infected. Travelers and cargo needed to dock at the Lazaretto for inspection. The Lazaretto was accessible until 1895 to decrease the spread of other diseases such as smallpox, and typhus fever travelers carried (CPP, 2023). Quarantine continues to be a part of modern science effective today such as in the home or at the hospitals. -
National Vaccine Establishment
James Madison signed what was called, “An Act to Encourage Vaccination,” when a National Vaccine Agency was established. James Smith was a physician from Baltimore, who was appointed as the National Vaccine Agent. The U.S. Post Office needed to carry contained smallpox vaccine material to be able to provide access to any U.S. citizen (CPP, 2023). -
Cholera Pandemic
In 1817, there was an outbreak of cholera in India, Asia, and the rest of the Earth. There were seven waves of the pandemic. They occurred in 1817-1823, 1826-1837, 1865-1875, 1881-1896, 1902-1923, and 1961-present time (CPP, 2023). -
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur built the first lab vaccine for cholera. Pasteur attenuated bacteria to be used in a vaccine but happened by accident. He injected chickens with cholera and kept a record of the disease process. He instructed his assistant to inject the chickens with the bacteria but forgot about it. When he returned a month later, the chickens showed mild symptoms of the illness and survived. When the chickens were well, Pasteur injected them with cholera again, and did not get sick (CPP, 2023). -
Pasteur Created a Rabies Vaccine
Joseph Meister, a nine-year-old boy was bitten by a dog with rabies. Meister’s mother brought him to have the rabies vaccine administered and prevented it from occurring. At the time, administering the rabies vaccine to Meister created a lot of controversies. (CPP, 2023).