[On the vaccination before and after Jenner]. / La vacunación antivariólica antes y después de Jenner.

ABSTRACT

The expression "inoculation" of smallpox was first employed by doctor Emanuel Timone, native of the Greek island of Chios and graduated from the Universities of Padua and Oxford. This method was largely employed in the XVIII century. Nevertheless, in 1798, the English physician Edward Jenner published the results of his observartions and his own experience with "vaccination", i. e. the inoculation of cowpox. These were exposed in his book "Inquiry into the causes and effects of the variolae vaccinae". This method soon substituted the variolization. However it must to be mentioned that, starting from 1770, vaccination was already performed in northern Europe by non medical personnel as for example the school teacher Peter Plett. Notwithstanding some initial opposition, vaccination quickly spreaded throughout Europe. It arrived to Spain in 1801 and thence was transferred to Spanish America and Philippines Islands with the expedition leaded by doctor Francisco Xavier Balmis. This expedition reached New Spain in June 1804, and remained there until February 1805 when embarked addressing to Philippines Islands. The other expeditionary group, leaded by doctor José Salvani, addressed toward Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, where Salvani died.