Question

The first vaccine was discovered by Edward Jenner. The target disease was __.

Answer 1

Edward Jenner discovered the vaccine for smallpox in 1798. Working in an agricultural community, Jenner knew that milkmaids never caught smallpox. However, they inevitably caught cowpox through their close work with cows. Jenner speculated that exposure to cowpox produced immunity against smallpox and even encountered locals who claimed to have deliberately infected themselves to provoke such a response . Jenner injected an eight-year-old boy with pus from cowpox blisters on the hands of a milkmaid and the boy developed immunity against smallpox.