
Dairymaids Contribution to the First Vaccine
By the 1700s, variolation had emerged as a common practice in western society. The technique, at times, did kill patients; however, the fatality rate with regards to this practice was ten times lower as compared to full-blown smallpox. It was found in the journal labeled by Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings in 2005. As the times passed, tales began to spread that dairymaids could not contract smallpox if they had previously suffered from cowpox.
Furthermore, cowpox’s fatality rate was lower compared to the variolation. Using this information as they base English Physician Edward Jenner commence hypothesize that states that cowpox provides protection against smallpox. He further illustrated that cowpox could be transmitted between patients safely as a way to protect themselves from contracting smallpox.