In what year was the smallpox vaccine developed by Edward Jenner?

In what year was the smallpox vaccine developed by Edward Jenner?

• A. 1776
• B. 1796
• C. 1805
• D. 1812

Answer: (B)

The question tests understanding of the first breakthrough in vaccination and when it happened. Jenner connected cowpox exposure with protection against smallpox and demonstrated it through a pivotal experiment in 1796: inoculating a boy with material from cowpox lesions and then exposing him to smallpox, after which the boy did not develop the disease. This showed that immunity could be trained using a related, less dangerous virus, a foundational idea for vaccination. The term vaccine itself comes from vacca, meaning cow, reflecting this source of protection. Jenner’s results established the practice of vaccination, changing how immunity could be built against dangerous diseases, even though the results were published a couple of years later.

The question tests understanding of the first breakthrough in vaccination and when it happened. Jenner connected cowpox exposure with protection against smallpox and demonstrated it through a pivotal experiment in 1796: inoculating a boy with material from cowpox lesions and then exposing him to smallpox, after which the boy did not develop the disease. This showed that immunity could be trained using a related, less dangerous virus, a foundational idea for vaccination. The term vaccine itself comes from vacca, meaning cow, reflecting this source of protection. Jenner’s results established the practice of vaccination, changing how immunity could be built against dangerous diseases, even though the results were published a couple of years later.