The World's First Immunization Campaign: The Spanish Smallpox Vaccine Expedition, 1803–1813

Abstract

Smallpox produced the death of up to thirty percent of those infected, so Jenner's preventive method spread quickly. The Spanish government designed and supported a ten-year effort to carry smallpox vaccine to its American and Asian territories in a chain of arm-to-arm vaccination of children. An expedition directed by Doctor Francisco Xavier de Balmis sailed from Corunna in November 1803, stopping in the Canary Islands, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. Balmis led a subexpedition to Cuba, Mexico, and the Philippines; his assistants returned to Mexico in 1807, while Balmis took vaccine to China and returned to Spain (and again to Mexico, 1810-13). Vice-director José Salvany and his staff took vaccine to present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chilean Patagonia. The Spanish Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition shows the first attempts to solve questions still important for the introduction of new immunizations--professionalization in public health, technology transfer, protection of research subjects, and evaluation of vaccine efficacy, safety, and cost.

Vaccination communication strategies: What have we learned, and lost, in 200 years?

“…The years 1803-24 saw the first attempts to introduce cowpox into the colony to vaccinate against smallpox. This was contemporaneous with what Mark and Rigau-Pérez [2009] describe as the world's first vaccination campaign, the Spanish government's campaign across its global territories. During this period, New South Wales was ruled by a local governor and his officers on behalf of the British monarch, and it is primarily their voices that comprise the government campaign for our study.…”

“…He said these objections have existed since Jenner developed the original vaccine against smallpox, at which time genuine uncertainties about safety raised understandable objections to compulsory vaccination [Durbach, 2000;Mark and Rigau-Pérez, 2009;Murdoch, 2015]. However, similar objections reappeared in subsequent anti-vaccination campaigns across the world, despite further research rendering many uncertainties moot.…”

Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara as a Viral Vector for Vaccine Candidates against Chikungunya Virus

“…In this expedition, 22 orphan boys from Galicia were utilized during the sea voyage as successive carriers of the Jenner vaccine to America. In addition, the expedition also carried scientific instruments and Spanish translations of one recent book on vaccination to be distributed to the local vaccine commissions, organized by the expedition members as they visited the different territories [5,6]. Other independent initiatives to vaccinate the American population were also successful.…”

Infectious disease mRNA vaccines and a review on epitope prediction for vaccine design

“…Vaccination is the most effective method for preventing the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Since the first vaccine was developed for smallpox more than200 years ago [ 46 ], vaccines have greatly improved population health for communities around the world by significantly reducing the disease burden of common infections such as measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, typhoid and tetanus. Vaccines induce immune responses by simulating the infection process inside the human body and enabling it to develop lasting immunity.…”