PROBLEM 2. Hoiv We Cm Conquer Some Diseases 



This boy was the first human being to 

 be saved from rabies. It is now common 

 practice to inoculate those who have 

 been bitten by a dog unless the dog can 

 be examined and is declared free from 

 rabies. 



Immunity to smallpox. If you have 

 ever had a smallpox vaccination that 

 "took" you will remember the intense 

 itching in that spot. You were having a 

 very mild attack of the disease. In a true 

 case of smallpox the patient has spots all 

 over his body that itch and get sore; fre- 

 quently deep pits or pocks are left when 

 the sores heal. You have rarely or never 

 seen people with faces disfigured with 

 pock marks because in the United States 

 and in many other countries smallpox 

 has been almost wiped out. Y^t, up to 

 about 1 800 there were not many persons 

 in Europe who escaped it. And even to- 

 day the disease exists in virulent form in 

 some parts of the world, particularly in smallpox. Yet, in 1942 in the whole 



from cowpox and rubbed it into a 

 scratch on a boy's arm. The boy became 

 only mildly ill and he was later shown to 

 be immune to smallpox, even when di- 

 rectly exposed to it. Jenner said he vac- 

 cmated the boy because he took mate- 

 rial from a vacciis, the Latin word for 

 cattle. And the material he used was 

 called vaccifie (vak'seen). 



Vaccination became fashionable in 

 England. The practice spread to France 

 and Germany. Jenner was honored and 

 feted by kings and adored by all the peo- 

 ple, in spite of the fact that in his day 

 severe illness often resulted from vacci- 

 nation. Can you answer the questions in 

 Exercise 4? 



Why we should be vaccinated. Partic- 

 ularly in the i8th century and again in 

 the 19th century smallpox epidemics 

 were widespread and severe. No one, or 

 almost no one, is naturally immune to 



southern China and India, 



It is to Edward Jenner (1749-182 3), 

 an English physician, that we owe thanks 

 for our ability to control smallpox. In 

 about 1790 Jenner followed up some in- 

 teresting observations and tests that had 

 been made by farmers. Cows suffered 

 from cowpox, a disease that resembled 

 smallpox. The dairymaids that milked 

 the diseased cows frequently came down 

 with a mild disease something like small- 

 pox. Now people had noticed that dairy- 

 maids who had had this disease did not 

 get true smallpox, even though everyone 

 else on the farm fell ill. Jenner, following 

 the methods of a few courageous men 

 who had tried this before, scraped some 

 of the material from one of the sores or 

 pustules of a cow that was suffering 



United States there were only 89 cases 

 of the disease and fewer than 10 deaths. 

 The chief reason for the decline is that 

 vaccination against smallpox has become 

 almost universal in a great many coun- 

 tries. It is only when people become care- 

 less about regular vaccination that the 

 disease may reappear in a community 

 and then spread rapidly. The state of 

 Pennsylvania had justly prided itself on 

 its good smallpox record. Some years 

 ago the number of smallpox cases sud- 

 denly rose. Why? A woman from an- 

 other state had visited in Pennsylvania 

 and was mildly ill with a disease not di- 

 agnosed until later. From her there origi- 

 nated 63 cases of smallpox in the state, 

 another one in Maryland, and one in 

 New Jersey. All 6^ could be traced to 



