The practice of vaccination originated from the work of Edward Jenner, who, in the late 18th century, discovered a belief amongst dairymaids that an attack of ‘cowpox’, which is an ulceration of the cow’s udder and believed to be transmissible to humans, was said to provide a certain degree of relief from ‘smallpox’. It was also believed that cowpox and smallpox were related diseases, which explains the belief that any attack of smallpox that occurred subsequent to an attack of cowpox would only be very mild.
It is reported that Edward Jenner accepted the dairymaids’ belief about cowpox, but there is a further twist to this tale because at one time he held a different view, which is explained by William White in The Story of a Great Delusion,
“Cows in Gloucestershire were milked by men as well as by women; and men would sometimes milk cows with hands foul from dressing the heels of horses afflicted with what was called grease. With this grease they infected the cows, and the pox which followed was pronounced by Jenner to have all the virtue against smallpox which the dairymaids claimed for cowpox.”
William White further states that Jenner published a paper on his horse-grease theory, but as it was not well-received, he returned to his cowpox theory. Whilst this may seem to be merely a minor detail, it is relevant to a full appreciation of Edward Jenner’s true contribution to humanity; the introduction of methods of poisoning the bloodstream in the name of ‘protection’ from disease.
Dr John W Hodge MD, an American physician, also began his medical career as a supporter of vaccination. However, he later conducted his own investigation into the subject and this led him to became aware that vaccinations did not prevent disease, but instead, were harmful. His investigation inspired him to write a booklet entitled The Vaccination Superstition, in which he lists his objections to the smallpox vaccination. These objections include the following,
“After a careful consideration of the history of vaccination and smallpox …. I am firmly convinced:
That vaccination is not only useless but positively injurious;
That there is no evidence worthy of the name on record to prove that vaccination either prevents or mitigates smallpox.”
In his role as the originator of the practice of vaccination, Edward Jenner is regarded by the medical establishment as a ‘hero’; but he is a false hero and his accolades are undeserved. Although referred to as a physician, it is documented that he did not study for or pass the medical examinations that would have been necessary for him to qualify as a physician. It is also documented that Edward Jenner purchased his medical degree, although this was not an entirely uncommon practice of the time in which he lived. These are facts, however, that are invariably omitted from the mainstream histories of his life, as they would certainly tarnish his reputation.
Furthermore, his qualification as a fellow of the Royal Society was not the result of any work that related to medical matters, but the result of his study on the life of the cuckoo. The only paper about vaccination that he submitted to the Royal Society was rejected on the basis that it lacked proof. Other than this rejected paper no further ‘scientific’ work was submitted by Edward Jenner to the Royal Society for approval on the topic of vaccination, as Herbert Shelton explains,
“Neither Jenner nor any of his successors ever re-presented the claims for this vaccine, together with proofs, to the Royal Society…”
During the 19th century there was a great deal of opposition in England to the practice of vaccination and this led to the creation in 1866 of an anti-vaccination movement, particularly after the enactment of the compulsory Vaccination Acts. The movement gained momentum after further and more stringent compulsory Vaccination Acts had been passed and larger numbers of people became aware of the dangers of vaccines. This movement would eventually include a number of eminent physicians of the time; two of whom are cited by Dr Hadwen in The Case Against Vaccination,
“…Dr Crookshank and Dr Creighton…have knocked the bottom out of this grotesque superstition and shown that vaccination has no scientific leg to stand on…”
At the time Dr Edgar Crookshank MD was professor of pathology and bacteriology at Kings College. He, like Dr Creighton, was originally supportive of vaccination but, after conducting his own independent investigation into the subject, he too changed his professional opinion. He is recorded to have stated that the medical profession should give up vaccination.
In 1896 the movement was re-named ‘The National Anti-Vaccination League of Great Britain’. Its members included some of the qualified physicians whose work is quoted in this chapter, in addition to the two eminent physicians referred to above, who supported the movement once they had investigated the matter for themselves and discovered the complete absence of any scientific evidence for its use. Other notable supporters of the British anti-vaccination movement were the scientists Alfred Russel Wallace and Herbert Spencer and the author George Bernard Shaw.
The attitude of the medical establishment towards the ‘anti-vaccination movement’ in the 19th century was extremely derogatory, despite the eminent physicians and scientists who were supportive of their efforts. This disparaging attitude has continued and remains firmly in place in the early 21st century. It is illustrated by an article in the February 2008 Bulletin of the WHO entitled Vaccination greatly reduces disease, disability, death and inequity worldwide that provides a suggestion of how to address people who question vaccines,
“The best way in the long term is to refute wrong allegations at the earliest opportunity by providing scientifically valid data.”
The genuine ‘scientifically valid data’ to be used to refute the wrong allegations with respect to the efficacy and safety of vaccines, can be demonstrated by the scientific investigations conducted by physicians such as Drs Creighton, Crookshank, Hodge and Hadwen, to name just a few, all of whom concluded that vaccines have no basis in science, nor are they safe or effective. The ‘wrong allegations’ are therefore those that claim otherwise.
Inoculation and vaccination were both introduced on the basis of the same beliefs and superstitions, not on the basis of science, and they both generated an increased incidence of and mortality from the disease known as smallpox.
Unfortunately, however, although inoculation was abolished, the ‘grotesque superstition’ that is vaccination has yet to be subjected to the same fate.