Edward Jenner’s lancet used for vaccinations
Maker and role
Savigny and Company
Production date
18th Century
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Details
Description
Held by the Science Museum
Copyright: The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Copyright: The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
History
Edward Jenner used a lancet, like this one, to vaccinate his patients against smallpox. The procedure involved scratching the skin, using a lancet, with pus from a cowpox blister. This instrument was vital both for Jenner's initial experimentation and to the early uptake of the smallpox vaccine.
Edward Jenner's vaccination discovery:
An important development came when Edward Jenner, an English physician and scientist, discovered that contracting cowpox provided immunity against smallpox. He published his findings in 1796 and called the procedure ‘vaccination’ after the Latin word for cow ‘vacca’. Vaccination soon became standard practice for preventing smallpox, and thanks to a global mass vaccination programme, the World Health Organisation officially declared smallpox eradicated in 1980.
Note. This is not how vaccinations are carried out today. See our Covid-19 FAQs:
https://www.redcross.org.uk/get-help/coronavirus/coronavirus-vaccine/coronavirus-vaccine-faq
Edward Jenner's vaccination discovery:
An important development came when Edward Jenner, an English physician and scientist, discovered that contracting cowpox provided immunity against smallpox. He published his findings in 1796 and called the procedure ‘vaccination’ after the Latin word for cow ‘vacca’. Vaccination soon became standard practice for preventing smallpox, and thanks to a global mass vaccination programme, the World Health Organisation officially declared smallpox eradicated in 1980.
Note. This is not how vaccinations are carried out today. See our Covid-19 FAQs:
https://www.redcross.org.uk/get-help/coronavirus/coronavirus-vaccine/coronavirus-vaccine-faq
Catalogue Number
150.32
Subject Person and Role
Edward Jenner (b.1749, d.1823)
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