Fake News: Disinformation, Deception, and Magical Thinking Over Time

Edward Jenner and the Cowpox Vaccine: Illustrating a Cure for Public Epidemics

On May 14, 1796, physician Edward Jenner developed a vaccine that made users immune to smallpox. He’d been inspired by the realization that milk maids had ulcers on their hands from their proximity to cow pox, but the transfer of cow pox to their system made them immune to smallpox. In 1798 he published his findings to immediate praise and criticism.

One group of British physicians criticized Jenner by alerting the public to alleged “dangers” of cow pox that they invented to shock and alarm. Physician William Rowley published a collection of case histories claiming to show the vaccine created cow-like side effects in patients, for example. One boy began running around on all fours, he claimed, while another mooed. One boy grew ulcers on his face that Rowley described as reminiscent of an ox leading him to publish an image of the boy labelled "Ox-faced Boy" (see below). (Rowley)



James Gillray, a well-known British caricaturist and printmaker hoped to lampoon what he felt to be absurd criticisms of the vaccine. The resulting print imagines patients vaccinated by Jenner immediately developing cow parts. His critique of anti-vaccination propaganda has not always been taken as such, however. Even today, news outlets cite his work as an example of the anti-vaccination movement he hoped to expose.

Explore the print here to discover the details that specifically reference Edward Jenner and criticisms of his vaccine.

 
 

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