Definition of Edward Jenner
1. Noun. English physician who pioneered vaccination; Jenner inoculated people with small amounts of cowpox to prevent them from getting smallpox (1749-1823).
Medical Definition of Edward Jenner
1.
Jenner was the typical country practitioner, who wanted to better himself by furthering his education. He enrolled as an anatomy house pupil of John Hunter.
Although his city colleagues stamped him as a lazy and rather dull person, he actually was a highly intelligent country physician. He became cognisant that milk maids, who developed pustules on their hands from milking cows did not get smallpox.
So he used Sarah Nelmes, a dairy maid with cowpox pustules, as his donor to inoculate (vaccinate) 8-year-old James Phipps on May 14, l796. (Why did not this maid receive her due recognition ?)
He waited until July 1, 1796 (1-1/2 months) at which time he challenged the youngster with the smallpox virus. The boy was totally protected without any symptoms whatsoever. Jenner continued to inoculate the people in his vicinity including his own children. The recipients were then challenged with smallpox and complete protection was noted.
Edward Jenner published his results of 123 cases in 1796, and his discovery was rapidly accepted and popularised. By 1800, more than 6,000 people had been vaccinated. Catherine the Great, the beautiful Czarina of Russia, received her inoculation, for which she paid 12,000 pounds.
Variola is the medical term for smallpox, whereas Varicella is chicken pox.
Lived: 1749-1823.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Edward Jenner
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