First Successful Vaccination (1796)

Hello there. My name is Dr. Edward Jenner, and I was a doctor a very, very long time ago in England. In my time, the world was a little bit scarier than it is today. There was a terrible sickness called smallpox, which I thought of as a speckled monster. It would visit towns and cities, leaving people very, very ill with a high fever and lots of uncomfortable spots. As a doctor, my biggest wish was to protect everyone from this monster. I would spend my nights reading books and my days thinking, 'There must be a way to stop it.' I saw so many worried faces, and it made my heart feel heavy. I promised myself I would work as hard as I could to find a shield that could keep everyone safe and healthy, so children could run and play without any fear.

I lived in the countryside, which was full of green fields, mooing cows, and fresh air. It was here that I noticed something very curious. I often spoke with the milkmaids, the women and girls who milked the cows every day. One of them was a kind girl named Sarah Nelmes. I saw that sometimes, the milkmaids would get a little sickness from the cows called cowpox. It wasn't a big deal at all. They would just get a few spots on their hands that would go away after a week or so. But here is the amazing part: I realized that the milkmaids who had gotten cowpox never, ever got sick with the scary smallpox. It was a mystery. A wonderful, hopeful mystery. A little light went on in my head. What if the gentle cowpox was teaching the body a secret lesson? I thought, 'Maybe getting the tiny, harmless sickness from a cow can teach a person's body how to fight off the big, speckled monster.' It was like their bodies learned how to defeat a little dragon, so they weren't afraid when the big, scary dragon came along.

My idea was exciting, but I had to be sure it would work. I needed a volunteer, someone very brave to help me. That person was a young boy, just eight years old, named James Phipps. He was my gardener's son, and he was full of courage. On May 14th, 1796, I explained my idea to James and his family. He agreed to help science and all the people in the world. I took a tiny bit of fluid from a cowpox spot on Sarah the milkmaid's hand and used a needle to make a tiny, gentle scratch on James's arm. For a day or two, James felt a little sleepy and warm, but he was soon back to his playful self, running around the garden. A little while later came the true test. I carefully introduced the smallpox sickness to James, and we all held our breath. And guess what? Nothing happened. He didn't get sick at all. Not even one spot. He was protected. My idea had worked. We called this new discovery 'vaccination,' from the word 'vacca,' which means 'cow' in a language called Latin. That one brave boy helped me show the world a new way to stay safe, giving families everywhere hope for a healthier future.