Vaccines contain weakened forms of germs from a particular disease , although they do not cause the illness they seek to protect the patient from . Instead , vaccines train the immune system to recognise specific pathogens and create antibodies to fight them .

Inoculation begins in China

Smallpox devastated humanity for centuries , killing more people than the Plague . First records of a vaccine come from ancient China . Physicians manufactured the smallpox vaccine by grinding up scabs from a smallpox patient and instructing those who had not caught the disease to inhale them .

Informal variolation in Constantinople

While travelling through Turkey , Lady Mary Wortley Montagu heard about variolation campaigns and how they were very informally manufactured : “ An old woman comes with a nutshell full of smallpox matter . She puts into the vein as much venom as can lie upon the head of her needle .”

Edward Jenner uses cowpox to vaccinate against smallpox

Jenner heard milkmaids had immunity to smallpox , as they ’ d already had cowpox . Jenner took a sample of cowpox from a milkmaid ’ s hand and applied it to 8-yearold James Phipps ’ arm . James developed a fever but fully recovered .

16 June 2022