cowpox illustration
In the illustration, the live cowpox virus is transferred directly from the cow (on left).

Backgrounder continued...
Immunization: Inoculation and Vaccination

Inoculation is documented in America – where the mortality rate from smallpox was much higher than in Europe[21] – as early as 1721, when Zabdiel Boylston, at the urging of Cotton Mather, successfully inoculated two slaves and his own son.[17]

Edward Jenner first used the word vaccination in 1796. Louis Pasteur furthered the concept through his pioneering work in microbiology. Vaccination (Latin: vacca—cow) is so named because the first vaccine was derived from a virus affecting cows—the relatively benign cowpox virus—which provides a degree of immunity to smallpox.

In common speech, 'vaccination' and 'immunization' generally have the same colloquial meaning. This distinguishes it from inoculation which uses unweakened live pathogens, although in common usage either is used to refer to an immunization. The word "vaccination" was originally used specifically to describe the injection of smallpox vaccine.[3][1]

Sources and credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccination. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inoculation. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
Portrait credit: Mary Wortley Montagu, by Charles Jervas, after 1716
Illustration: Crowd at a free smallpox vaccination clinic in France, 1900s–Photos.com

Notes:
1. Lombard M, Pastoret PP, Moulin AM (2007). "A brief history of vaccines and vaccination". Rev. – Off. Int. Epizoot. 26 (1): 29–48. PMID 17633292.
3. Plett PC (2006). "[Peter Plett and other discoverers of cowpox vaccination before Edward Jenner]" (in German). Sudhoffs Arch 90 (2): 219–32. PMID 17338405. http://lib.bioinfo.pl/meid:4459. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
12. Paul Vallely, How Islamic Inventors Changed the World, The Independent, 11 March 2006.
13. Donald R. Hopkins, Princes and Peasants: Smallpox in History (University of Chicago Press, 2983).
14. Strathern, Paul (2005). A Brief History of Medicine. London: Robinson. pp. 179. ISBN 1-84529-155-7.
16. Strathern, Paul (2005). A Brief History of Medicine. London: Robinson. pp. 179. ISBN 1-84529-155-7.
17. Silverman, Kenneth. "The Life and Times of Cotton Mather", Harper & Row, New York, 1984. ISBN 0-06-015231-1, p. 339.
21. In fact, the mortality rate of the Varoiola Minor form of smallpox then found in Europe was 1-3% as opposed to 30-50% for the Variola Major type found elsewhere; however. blindness, infertility, and severe scarring were common. Figures from "The Search for Immunisation", In Our Time, BBC Radio 4 (2006), http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20060420.shtml
22. Letter of Lady Montagu reproduced at http://www.foundersofscience.net/lady_mary_montagu.htm. Viewed 18 March 2006.


Did you know?
image of Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture

This is a close-up of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture. Tuberculosis is a highly infectious and often attacks the lungs; if left untreated, the active disease has an extremely high (>50%) fatality rate. Screening programs and vaccination are the main methods of prevention.

Credit: Content provider CDC/Dr. George Kubica, PD-USGov-HHS-CDC.

Source: This media comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Image Library (PHIL), part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

BACKGROUNDER

Immunization:
Inoculation and Vaccination

Inoculation (also known as variolation) was introduced to the west by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), who witnessed inoculation being
portrait of lady
practiced by physicians in Constantinople,[12] and was greatly impressed:[13] she had lost a brother to smallpox and bore facial scars from the disease herself. In 1718 she had the embassy surgeon inoculate her son, and in 1721, after returning to England, had her daughter inoculated[14]. In 1722 the Prince of Wales' daughters received inoculations[16].

The practice of inoculation slowly spread amongst the royal families of Europe, followed by general adoption amongst the rest of the population. Given the severe consequences of smallpox in Europe in the 18th century, many parents felt that the benefits outweighed the risks and so inoculated their children.[21] [22]

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