Smallpox Vaccination in the Early 19th Century
Smallpox Vaccination in the Early 19th Century
Realizing that the Spanish colonies were being devastated by epidemics of smallpox resulting in thousands of deaths, Charles IV, King of Spain, sent one of his court's physicians to apply the recently discovered vaccine. Without refrigeration, the vaccine was passed from one child to another (boys taken out of orphanages). Francisco Xavier de Balmis and a team that included three assistants, two surgeons, and three nurses sailed from Spain on November 30, 1803. They vaccinated more than 100,000 people from the Caribbean Islands and South, Central, and North America, reaching up to San Antonio, Texas, and then traveled to the Philippines, Macao, Canton, and Santa Elena Island, landing back in Cadiz on September 7, 1806. During his journey, Balmis instructed local physicians on how to prepare, preserve, and apply the vaccine, while collecting rare biologic specimens. On the 200th anniversary of their sailing, recognition is given to this group for conducting what was the first global vaccination campaign that reached Texas and California.
Smallpox devastated the Spanish colonies periodically (Fig. 1); the most remembered event took place in 1797 when, in the vice kingdom of New Spain, 44,286 persons fell ill, of which 8,220 died in a period of 3 months. The next year, Edward Jenner published Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccine in London. Vaccination was first conducted among the royal houses of Europe; in Spain, Princess Maria Luisa had smallpox and barely survived. Her father, King Charles IV, urged by the Queen, ordered the vaccination of Princes Fernando, Carlos, and Francisco, who had low-grade fever for 3 days but did well. He also decided to make this benefit available to all his subjects in the Empire where the sun never set by first having the only book on the subject by J. L. Mareau de la Sarthe translated into Spanish by one of the Court's physicians.
(Enlarge Image)
Aztec drawing representing patients affected by smallpox at different stages.
In 1802, the Viceroy of New Granada (Colombia) asked his Majesty for help after informing him of an epidemic of smallpox that had produced thousands of deaths. The Consejo de Indias, in charge of all issues related to the colonies, advised him to send an expedition to vaccinate against smallpox throughout the domain. The King decided on Francisco Xavier de Balmis, who had translated Moreau de la Sarthe's book.
Born in Alicante on December 2, 1753, Balmis was the son and grandson of physicians. He graduated from the University of Valencia in 1775 and became a military surgeon in North Africa. He then traveled to Mexico in 1778, where he acted as director of the Amor de Dios Hospital and collected rare specimens of plants with medicinal properties, describing the healing action of the agave and a certain variety of Begonia named begonia balmicensis (Fig. 2).
(Enlarge Image)
Bust of Dr. Francisco Xavier de Balmis.
A royal edict was issued to transfer 20 children between 8 and 10 years old from La Coruna's Orphans' Home; they were selected from those who had not had smallpox, and who had never been vaccinated before. Balmis' plan was to pass the vaccine live, transmitting it from child to child as the skin lesions began to extrude lymph from Days 4 to 10 postvaccination, preserving a drop in between glass slides that would be adhered by vacuum and sealed with paraffin. The initial vaccination was performed in Madrid and carried on to La Coruna through sequential vaccination in five children from an Orphan House in Madrid.
Realizing that the Spanish colonies were being devastated by epidemics of smallpox resulting in thousands of deaths, Charles IV, King of Spain, sent one of his court's physicians to apply the recently discovered vaccine. Without refrigeration, the vaccine was passed from one child to another (boys taken out of orphanages). Francisco Xavier de Balmis and a team that included three assistants, two surgeons, and three nurses sailed from Spain on November 30, 1803. They vaccinated more than 100,000 people from the Caribbean Islands and South, Central, and North America, reaching up to San Antonio, Texas, and then traveled to the Philippines, Macao, Canton, and Santa Elena Island, landing back in Cadiz on September 7, 1806. During his journey, Balmis instructed local physicians on how to prepare, preserve, and apply the vaccine, while collecting rare biologic specimens. On the 200th anniversary of their sailing, recognition is given to this group for conducting what was the first global vaccination campaign that reached Texas and California.
Smallpox devastated the Spanish colonies periodically (Fig. 1); the most remembered event took place in 1797 when, in the vice kingdom of New Spain, 44,286 persons fell ill, of which 8,220 died in a period of 3 months. The next year, Edward Jenner published Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccine in London. Vaccination was first conducted among the royal houses of Europe; in Spain, Princess Maria Luisa had smallpox and barely survived. Her father, King Charles IV, urged by the Queen, ordered the vaccination of Princes Fernando, Carlos, and Francisco, who had low-grade fever for 3 days but did well. He also decided to make this benefit available to all his subjects in the Empire where the sun never set by first having the only book on the subject by J. L. Mareau de la Sarthe translated into Spanish by one of the Court's physicians.
(Enlarge Image)
Aztec drawing representing patients affected by smallpox at different stages.
In 1802, the Viceroy of New Granada (Colombia) asked his Majesty for help after informing him of an epidemic of smallpox that had produced thousands of deaths. The Consejo de Indias, in charge of all issues related to the colonies, advised him to send an expedition to vaccinate against smallpox throughout the domain. The King decided on Francisco Xavier de Balmis, who had translated Moreau de la Sarthe's book.
Born in Alicante on December 2, 1753, Balmis was the son and grandson of physicians. He graduated from the University of Valencia in 1775 and became a military surgeon in North Africa. He then traveled to Mexico in 1778, where he acted as director of the Amor de Dios Hospital and collected rare specimens of plants with medicinal properties, describing the healing action of the agave and a certain variety of Begonia named begonia balmicensis (Fig. 2).
(Enlarge Image)
Bust of Dr. Francisco Xavier de Balmis.
A royal edict was issued to transfer 20 children between 8 and 10 years old from La Coruna's Orphans' Home; they were selected from those who had not had smallpox, and who had never been vaccinated before. Balmis' plan was to pass the vaccine live, transmitting it from child to child as the skin lesions began to extrude lymph from Days 4 to 10 postvaccination, preserving a drop in between glass slides that would be adhered by vacuum and sealed with paraffin. The initial vaccination was performed in Madrid and carried on to La Coruna through sequential vaccination in five children from an Orphan House in Madrid.
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