Enlightenment - Hunter and Jenner

Question 1

Who was John Hunter? (5)

Answer 1

1. Collected and researched 3000 medical specimens which he publicly displayed in his “Hunterian Museum”
2. 1786: Published “On Venereal Disease” - heavily based on self-experimentation and observation
3. Made discoveries on the nature of disease, infections, cancer and blood circulation through dissecting bodies
4. 1767: injected himself with gonorrhea (and syphilis by accident), proving that gonorrhea and syphilis were not the same disease.
5. Mentored 100s of surgeons (including Jenner) and performed sophisticated surgeries ahead of his time

Question 2

What was Hunter’s aneurysm surgery?

Answer 2

Man was brought in with an aneurysm on his leg - Hunter decided to cut of the blood supply to the lump instead of amputating the leg and the man walked out of the hospital 6 weeks later

Question 3

Who was Edward Jenner? (3)

Answer 3

1. 1796: Used observation of milk maids to develop a vaccine for smallpox, which was tested on an 8 year old, James Phipps
2. 1798: published his work and the royal family were vaccinated
3. 1853: smallpox vaccines were made compulsory. 1980: WHO declared smallpox eradicated.

Question 4

What was smallpox? What did people use before Jenner’s vaccines? (3)

Answer 4

1. Smallpox was the biggest killer of the 18th century - epidemics would kill 15% of the population.
2. Lady Mary Montagu brought the idea of inoculation to England which involved purposefully injecting themselves with mild doses of the live disease to get immunity
3. Inoculation was too expensive for the poor and many died from inoculation.

Question 5

Why was there opposition to vaccination? (2)

Answer 5

1. Jenner couldn’t explain to skeptics e.g the Royal Society why it worked
2. Doctors were already making lots of money from inoculations