The Age of Enlightenment Flashcards
Who introduced inoculation to the UK?
Lady Montagu
What disease was inoculation used against?
Smallpox.
Why was smallpox feared?
It often killed, and if you survived you would be scarred, or even disfigured.
Where did Lady Montagu see inoculation being used?
Turkey, but the idea had got there from China.
What did Montagu discover?
A healthy person could be immunised against smallpox by using pus from the sores of someone suffering from a mild form of the disease
How was inoculation against smallpox done?
A thread soaked in pus was drawn through a small cut in the skin of the person being immunised.
What was the problem with inoculation against smallpox?
It sometimes produced the full disease, and could therefore kill
Why did people take the risk of death and still get inoculated against smallpox?
Smallpox was much feared, and people felt the risk was worthwhile.
Why did doctors do inoculations, despite the risk of killing a patient?
The risk of inoculation was smaller than the risk of natural smallpox. Doctors also got very rich doing inoculations.
Who was Edward Jenner?
A country doctor in Gloucestershire, born 1749
What did Edward Jenner hear about smallpox?
It did not affect milkmaids, who did get cowpox.
What did Edward Jenner do when he heard that people who got cowpox did not get smallpox?
He investigated, using scientific methods, and found that it was true.
How did Jenner test his theory about cowpox and smallpox?
In 1796 he took a small boy and injected him with pus from the sores of a milkmaid who had cowpox. He then later injected him with smallpox. The boy did not get smallpox.
Where do we get the word vaccination?
Vacca is the Latin for cow.
How did smallpox get to America?
The European settlers brought it with them. The natives had no immunity against the new bug.
