Jenner's Theory in Treating Smallpox, and Can this Theory be Used to Cure the Bubonic Plague - Essay Example

? The Application of Jenner’s Theory for Smallpox for the Treatment of the Bubonic Plague Word Count 277 Jenner’s theory for the treatment of smallpox was based on the recognition that cowpox was a similar disease to smallpox, and that people who had been affected by cowpox did not appear to be able to contract smallpox. Jenner reasoned that it would be possible to inoculate people with the cowpox virus in order to protect them from smallpox. This approach ultimately proved to be highly effective, and those who received Jenner’s vaccinations had a lower chance of contracting smallpox. Historically, Jenner’s theory and approach was the first example of vaccination, which has now been used for the prevention of other diseases. His approach was an effective method of preventing smallpox from occurring in patients and has the potential to be applied to the bubonic plague, as well as other diseases. The key discovery that led to the development of Jenner’s theory for smallpox, was the determination that “the person who has been thus affected is forever after secure from the infection of the smallpox” (Jenner). This determination is important because cowpox is a less severe disease than smallpox, and this information indicated that it would be possible to intentionally expose a person to the cowpox virus in order to prevent them from attaining smallpox later in life. At that point in time, the most successful way to stop people from getting smallpox was to vaccinate them with pus from people who had only a mild case of smallpox. However, this approach was risky and often resulted in the death of patients (Zephyrus). Consequently, it was important that another, more effective, approach to preventing smallpox was found, and Jenner’s theory had the potential to do this. One of the reasons that cowpox was a desirable alternative to smallpox was the fact, as Jenner noted, that “I have never known fatal effects to arise from cow-pox, even when impressed in the most unfavorable manner…” (Jenner). Prior to Jenner’s experiments, smallpox had been a disease that people feared getting, and one that killed approximately a third of all people who caught the disease (History Learning Site). Jenner’s approach provided an alternative to preventing the disease that had a significantly lower level of risk. Although Jenner was initially ridiculed for his proposed vaccination, it was a success. This can be seen by the fact that Jenner’s treatment for smallpox was widespread by the 1800s (Zephyrus), and all other forms of treatment were banned by 1840. Jenner’s vaccine is often considered to be the reason why smallpox decreased in prevalence, and is no longer a threat today (History Learning Site). Jenner’s vaccine was developed specifically for smallpox, and had a significant impact on the disease. This suggests that the approach has the potential to be influential in the prevention of other disease. One indication of this is the comment that Jenner made that “the result of all my trials with the virus on the human subject has been uniform” (Jenner). This statement is an important indication of the success of the vaccine. The term uniform suggests that either the vaccine was successful in every case or it was not. The evidence from Jenner’s paper, as well as from the historical record indicates the former. This validifies the concept of vaccination as a whole. There are many other diseases that have no cures that could potentially benefit from a similar approach, such as the bubonic plague, however, the approach is not necessarily effective for all diseases. As such, it is necessary to consider methods of creating the disease as well as how the disease is transmitted to ensure that a vaccine can be created. Unlike many medical advances, Jenner’s theory was not based on the scientific method; instead, his evidence was based on personal observations of people who had been infected with cowpox as well as those who had later received a smallpox inoculation. As Jenner commented: “In support of so extraordinary a fact, I shall lay before my reader a great number of instances” (Jenner). What makes this an interesting approach is the fact that Jenner put his subjects at risk on a number of occasions on the basis of circumstantial evidence. He knew that people who had previously had cowpox did not react strongly to the smallpox inoculation. However, the inoculation was performed with a small amount of the disease and did not necessarily indicate that the patient would be safe from full exposure to the disease. Nevertheless, Jenner exposed some of his patients to smallpox in order to determine whether the vaccine was successful, and told others that they were safe before this was known. These aspects are important to take into consideration when attempting to develop a vaccine, as it would be safer to first test the vaccine in animals before using human subjects. The smallpox vaccine developed by Jenner was effective because it made use of a disease that existed in nature that according to Jenner it “bears so strong a resemblance to smallpox that I think it highly probably it may be the source of the disease” (Jenner). Developing a vaccine for another disease involves the determination of a similar source that can be used within the vaccine. The bubonic plague is known to be caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis which occurs within rodents, and is then transferred to humans through fleas (BBC News). This provides a potential approach that can be used to develop a vaccine for the bubonic plague. Currently, there are reports of a vaccine being developed for the bubonic plague due to the fact that it is still present in some parts of the world, and there is significant risk that it might be used in a terrorist attack. (Science Daily). The development of a vaccine suggests that Jenner’s theory can be applied to the treatment of bubonic plague. One aspect that has to be taken into consideration about Jenner’s approach is that is entirely ineffective against people who already have the disease. Jenner explained this as such: “the true cow-pox is a safe and infallible preventive from the smallpox” (Jenner). Vaccination provides a method of creating an immune system response to the virus, and because of this, it would not effective on a person who already had the smallpox virus at the time of vaccination. Jenner’s approach did cure smallpox in the long-term, because the prevalence of the disease decreased over time and eventually stopped being a problem (History Learning Site). The development of a vaccine for the bubonic plague could potentially have the same effect. As such, it would provide a long-term cure to the disease, but would be ineffective in individual cases. Jenner’s approach resulted in the development of a new and effective approach to preventing a disease that was rampant throughout the population. His approach was more effective than inoculation, which led to deaths and it had a significantly lower level of death. The success of the vaccine was partially based on the fact that Jenner was able to find a similar disease which provided resistance, to produce a similar vaccine for another disease, this would also be necessary. Although his approach was the result of observations and risky testing, rather than the scientific method, it was successful. However, despite the success of the vaccine, it represents a preventative measure, rather than a cure. Over time, the vaccine was able to remove smallpox from the population, effectively ‘curing’ the population, but not from individuals who had the disease. The same would be true of a vaccine for the bubonic plague. Thus, Jenner’s approach would provide an effective preventative measure for the bubonic plague, but it would not provide a cure in the traditional use of the word. Works Cited BBC News. "Black Death Vaccine Developed". 2004. (February 19): September 22 2012. . History Learning Site. "Edward Jenner". September 22 2012. . Jenner, Edward. "On Vaccination". 2011. September 22 2012. . Science Daily. "Vaccine to Protect against Black Plague Bioterror Attack Being Developed". 2008. (July 31): September 22 2012. . Zephyrus. "Edward Jenner (1979-1823)". September 22 2012. . Read More