Edward Jenner (1749-1823), often referred to as the father of immunology, was an English doctor best known for the discovery of Smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccination. Born to a reverend, Jenner had an upbringing that emphasized the importance of education. At the tender age of 13, he apprenticed to a doctor where he learned much of his surgical skills (Magner, 2015, p. 370). Despite having obtained a medical degree from the university of a populous city, Jenner settled in a London practice in the countryside. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Smallpox, an infectious disease, was extremely dangerous and deadly in Jenner's time. The origin of smallpox is unknown, although epidemiologists have speculated that it “may have evolved from one of the poxviruses of wild or domestic animals” (Magner, 2015, p. 362). The uniqueness and potency of the smallpox disease made it a powerful enemy in the eighteenth century. According to Magner (2015) smallpox was different from many other viruses because it could live outside its host and remain infectious for long periods of time (p. 363). It may have been these factors that contributed so significantly to the numerous smallpox epidemics that plagued the eighteenth century, and it was only in the latter part of this period that Edward Jenner began to experiment with vaccination to provide immunity against this debilitating virus and rampant disease. In 1796, Jenner took advice from his close friend John Hunter and began experimenting with ways to cure people of this virus. During his observation, Jenner noticed that the manifestations (or symptoms) of cowpox, a less serious viral disease, were similar to those of smallpox. He also found that people who had contracted cowpox, a less serious virus, did not contract it. In one of his numerous publications, Jenner explained the process of transmission of cowpox: “One of the former, having been instructed to apply dressings to the heels of a horse affected by blubber, and not paying due attention to cleanliness, carelessly makes his part in milking cows, with some particles of the infectious matter adhering to his fingers. When this happens, it commonly happens that a disease is transmitted to cows, and from cows to cowherds, which spreads throughout the farm until most of the cattle and domestics feel the unpleasant consequences" ("A Continuation of Facts and Observations relating to the various vaccines, or Cow-Pox, 1800," 1796, par. 3). He goes on to describe the symptoms that people infected with this disease begin to exhibit, including circular lesions appearing on the hands and arms, tachycardia, vomiting, chills and headache. It would be the lesions produced by this disease that act as a vaccination against it. To confirm his theory that those who had previously been infected with cowpox would acquire immunity from smallpox, Jenner inoculated James Phipps. , an eight-year-old boy, material taken from the lesions of a cowpox-infected milkmaid. Although Phipps experienced mild symptoms of discomfort and fever, he would make a full recovery. Jenner would later infect the same boy with fluids from a smallpox lesion and get the same results, mild discomfort but recovery days later. As an article in The British Heritage states, “The world and its people” were declared free from endemic smallpox by the World Health Assembly in 198(), largely thanks to Edward Jenner” (“Edward Jenner: Founder of 'Immunology, 2008, p. This is important to note.