Question

Who discovered vaccination against smallpox in 1796?

• A. Louis Pasteur
• B. Walter Reed
• C. James Lind
• D. Edward Jenner

Hint:

Remember the key associations:

\textbf{Jenner} $\rightarrow$ Smallpox, Cowpox, Vaccination (1796).
\textbf{Pasteur} $\rightarrow$ Rabies, Pasteurization, Germ Theory.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Recall the history of vaccination. Step 1: The discovery of vaccination is a landmark event in medical history, attributed to an English physician who observed that milkmaids who contracted cowpox were immune to smallpox.
Step 2: Identify the discoverer and the event.
Step 2: In 1796, Edward Jenner famously tested his hypothesis by inoculating a young boy, James Phipps, with material from a cowpox sore from a milkmaid. He then exposed the boy to smallpox, and the boy did not get sick. This demonstrated the principle of vaccination.
Step 3: Evaluate the other options.
Step 3:

Louis Pasteur: Developed vaccines for rabies and anthrax much later in the 19th century and is a father of microbiology.
Walter Reed: Proved that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes.
James Lind: Conducted the first clinical trial and discovered that citrus fruits could cure scurvy.
The credit for the smallpox vaccine and the origin of the term "vaccination" (from *vacca*, the Latin for cow) belongs to Edward Jenner.