Vaccination
Training the immune system with a harmless form of a germ so the body can fight the real one, a method that has saved hundreds of millions of lives.
- First vaccine
- Smallpox, Edward Jenner, 1796
- Smallpox declared eradicated
- 1980
Jenner's experiment
Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids who had caught cowpox seemed protected from smallpox. In 1796 he inoculated a boy with cowpox material and showed that the boy resisted smallpox afterwards.
Eradication
A worldwide campaign led by the World Health Organization vaccinated people in outbreak areas and their contacts. Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980, the only human disease eliminated so far.
Today
Vaccines now protect against diseases including measles, polio, tetanus and HPV. Their effectiveness depends on high coverage, which is why access and public trust matter as much as the science.