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The beginnings of smallpox vaccination in Spain seen through the correspondence of Ignacio María Ruiz de Luzuriaga (1801-1802)
- Source :
- Vaccine. 37(32)
- Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Edward Jenner’s discovery of the smallpox vaccine spread rapidly across Europe. In Spain, vaccinations first took place in December 1800 and the practice flourished upon the private initiative of doctors, surgeons, state officials and members of the nobility in different parts of the country. Ignacio María Ruiz de Luzuriaga, secretary of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Madrid, is considered in medical historiography as a key figure of the introduction of the smallpox vaccine in Spain. Ruiz de Luzuriaga had a major role as a disseminator of the Jennerian technique and as a distributor of the vaccine fluid. Given his prestige as a doctor and his position in the Royal Academy, he was commissioned to establish a scientific and academic corpus on preventive measures to foster their understanding, uptake and good practice among Spanish vaccinators. He also attempted to create a Central Vaccine Committee, such as that existing in other European countries. The Royal Academy kept records of his activity which have been filed and catalogued in a documentary set entitled ‘Papeles sobre la vacuna’ [Vaccine Papers]. This archive has not been studied in depth to date. These documents allow identifying a network of correspondents set up by Ruiz de Luzuriaga. He provided these correspondents with the vaccine and asked them to report back on the vaccination progress made in their municipalities. This correspondence provides an account of how the first immunisations in Spain unravelled, as well as of the initial concerns that accompanied the introduction of the vaccine. This work is included in the framework of the research project ‘Papers on the vaccine’ that received funding from the Spanish Vaccination Foundation (FEV1-11PA).
- Subjects :
- History
030231 tropical medicine
Papers on the vaccine
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Correspondence
medicine
Smallpox
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Letters
health care economics and organizations
General Veterinary
General Immunology and Microbiology
Smallpox vaccination
Vaccination
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Academies and Institutes
respiratory system
medicine.disease
respiratory tract diseases
Infectious Diseases
Spain
Ruiz de Luzuriaga
Molecular Medicine
Ethnology
Enfermería
Immunization
Vaccine
Smallpox Vaccine
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 18732518
- Volume :
- 37
- Issue :
- 32
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Vaccine
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....74dfb4899bd6e9a35e30047f03eade99