 starter activity

1. starter activity Detail In 1800 smallpox was one the most feared diseases around. But why did people fear this disease so much? Read p.109 and note down your reasons.  Think of other diseases we’ve studied that people feared as much and why?

2. Reasons why it was so feared • Symptoms: fever, headaches, pus-filled blisters • Scarring • Treatments, e.g. bleeding, quack remedies • Killed more children than any other disease • No known cure • Affected rich & poor (Elizabeth I)

3. What was so special about Edward Jenner?  LOs TBAT explain the difference between inoculation & vaccination, the achievements of Edward Jenner & why there was so much opposition to his ideas

4.  Your task • Read p. 109. Explain the term inoculation and note this in your glossary. • List the reasons why inoculation didn’t totally solve the problem • Extension. Can you think of other examples in history where the privileged were the first to benefit from better access to health/medicine? Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

5. Problems with inoculation • Costly – some doctors exploited this! • Some died from inoculation or became carriers • People refused treatments Why do the people look so concerned in this painting?

6.  Film clip • Watch the clip about the life of Edward Jenner and answer the questions. • Imagine you have been asked to a cover for the DVD summarising Jenner’s key achievements. Refer to training, methods, & his key achievements •  Extension. Why might some people challenge’s Jenner’s reputation? Edward Jenner, 1749-1823

7.  Your task • Read p.109-110 and list the events which helped Jenner make his famous break through and to spread his ideas on vaccination • Note down the similarities with other, earlier ‘medical megastars’. Who did he have most in common with? • Extension. Try to identify 3 or 4 factors which helped Jenner?

8. What helped Jenner make his discoveries? • Education – studied under surgeon, John Hunter • Enquiry & attitude – noted down his observations, e.g. milkmaids didn’t develop smallpox; carried out 23 tests; undeterred by criticism • Technology – published his ideas (1798); by 1803 USA using vaccination & in 1805 Napoleon vaccinated Fr army • Government - £30,000 grant; 1852 compulsory vaccination introduced

9. Opposition Ungodly – using animals to cure humans Inoculators would lose their jobs Royal Society – vaccination was too revolutionary! Government should not interfere with health Vaccinations were costly People hadn’t heard of Jenner

10. What does this cartoon tell us about contemporary reactions to vaccinations? Use the source & own knowledge

11. There has been an outbreak of smallpox across the country. It is likely to strike Folkestone soon. Hold a public meeting with members of the council who support public vaccination. You are against it!

12.  Extension task • Do you think parents should have the right to decide if their children should be vaccinated or not? Baby receiving its MMR jab

13.  Plenary What has a cow got to do with immunology? What factors helped Jenner?

14.  Plenary • What is the difference between inoculation & vaccination? • Give 3 reasons why Jenner faced so much opposition • What factors helped in the discovery of a vaccine for smallpox?

15.  Homework • You have been asked to write the entry for a web encyclopaedia entry on Edward Jenner. Write a side of A4 explaining who he was (his life story), who were the early pioneers of immunology (e.g. Lady Mary Wortley Montague), how he developed his vaccine, why his work was so important.