Battling Smallpox Before Vaccination : Inoculation in Eighteenth-Century Germany

When smallpox inoculation entered western medical practice in 1721 it aroused considerable controversy. A broad-based cohort of enlightened Germans such as publishers, poets, pastors and elite women attempted to dispel the doubts and encourage the innovative procedure. Yet many parents remained fearful, and the contagiousness of inoculation also necessitated a new approach. National pride in the past defeat of bubonic plague aroused optimism that smallpox could be banished using a similar strategy. The arrival in 1800 of Jenner’s vaccine ended the debates by offering yet another promising new approach.
Battling Smallpox before Vaccination explores the social and medical impacts of inoculation. It offers belated recognition for the valiant attempts of the many protagonists battling against the so-called ‘murdering angel’ before Edward Jenner’s discovery of vaccination. It provides a comprehensive description and penetrating analysis of the understanding and perception of smallpox, the propagation of pro-inoculation information, varied reactions to inoculation, and debates over the idealistic goal of eradicating smallpox.

Jennifer D. Penschow (PhD Med. 1994 Melbourne; PhD His. 2016 Tasmania) has one international patent and 39 peer-reviewed collaborative publications, including two articles in Nature, mainly with research teams at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne, the Howard Florey Institute, Melbourne, and the Department of Biochemistry, University of Tasmania. At present she is an independent scholar.