Vaccinations (Debate)

Wed 23 Dec 2020, 14:50 (last edited on Wed 23 Dec 2020, 14:57)

I was interested in that bit about Edward Lyster having discovered the use of cow pox before Jenner (news to me), and what I found was that he was offering inoculation. There is a technical difference between inoculation and vaccination, although in modern usage, they are terms often used interchangeably (and especially in the USA). Inoculation is when immunity is developed from the actual active pathogenic agent, whilst vaccination does not involve the active pathogen. For example, by a related, but relatively benign, pathogen (as with cow pox), or a de-activated or attenuated pathogen. Now we have mRNA vaccines for COVID-10 (Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna) and genetically engineered viral vector vaccines (Oxford/AstraZeneca).

What existed before Jenner, was a practice that was used in the Ottoman empire and parts of asia called variolation, With smallpox that involved inoculating people with material taken from patients with the aim of giving them a mild case of the actual disease (not without its risks of course). I wonder if what Edward Lyster was offering was inoculation via variolation rather than the use of cowpox.

The following is a link about variolation for smallpox being offered as inoculation in Britain in the 18th century.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407399/

"Early in the 18^th century, variolation (referred to then as ‘inoculation’) was introduced to Britain and New England to protect people likely to be at risk of infection with smallpox."

I found this description of early 18th century inoculation (variolation) against smallpox
"In Britain, Europe and the American Colonies the preferred method was rubbing material from a smallpox pustule from a selected mild case (Variola minor) into a scratch between the thumb and forefinger."

If so, I would question the claim that Edward Lyster (who would not be alone) discovered vaccination with cowpox before Edward Jenner. They are rather different things.