This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

William H. Foege, MD

JAMA. 1996;275(23):1846-1847.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

It has not been just another year in public health. As public health enters its third century, we celebrate milestones of great importance; at the same time, stories are unfolding on emerging infections, tobacco, and children in war that will alter the future.

On May 14,1796, Edward Jenner transferred material from a cowpox lesion on the hand of Sarah Nelms to the arm of James Phipps.¹ What possessed him? He was motivated by the writings of poets who extolled the pock-free complexions of milkmaids as well as by a decade of observing what happened to milkmaids during smallpox outbreaks. Despite his confidence in the protection offered by cowpox, it is hard to imagine his emotions when he deliberately exposed the boy to smallpox and found him to be immune. Thus began the history of public health, the idea of disease eradication, and the vaccine era.

The first complete victory . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
The Carter Center, Atlanta, Ga

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?