Edward Jenner and the discovery of vaccination--an appeal for the Edward Jenner Museum.

The discovery of vaccination was one of the greatest medical dvances of all time and, indeed, an estimated 8–10 million lives are resently saved on an annual basis worldwide by vaccines. Included n this number are the many that would have died of smallpox, radicated by vaccination in 1977 [1]. The potential for doubling his number exists if vaccines can be developed to control the major orld health problems of HIV, malaria and TB and even cancer. Few readers of this journal will be unfamiliar with the story f Edward Jenner (1749–1823) and his invention of the smallpox accine back in 1796 in the small market town of Berkeley, Gloucesershire, in the UK [2]. However, many will not be aware that the ouse and grounds in which Jenner conducted his famous vaccinaion of the young James Phipps more than 200 years ago still exist nd are maintained by the Jenner Trust as a museum and memorial o the life and work of Edward Jenner. The museum is housed in the Chantry (Fig. 1), the vicar’s resience or vicarage, immediately adjacent to the 13th century church f St. Mary’s where Jenner was buried in 1823. The Chantry was enner’s home for 38 years from 1785 until his death. Buildings in he UK of historic interest are classified in terms of their signifiance, hence, Grade I are buildings of exceptional interest, Grade I* are particularly important buildings of more than special interst, and Grade II buildings are just of special interest, warranting very effort to preserve them. The Chantry is an exceptional Grade I*-listed Queen Anne house of historic importance in its own right, ut also unique in being the home of Edward Jenner and, therefore, s a site of global significance in the history of medicine. Given the profound impact of vaccination on world health, the resent Jenner Museum is a very modest establishment with a tatus and public recognition disproportionately small when set gainst the epoch-making discoveries it commemorates. It was ere that Jenner collected together the case histories that coninced him that infection with cowpox afforded protection against mallpox and conducted his pioneering experiments with vaccinaion demonstrating that the inoculation of cowpox (taken from an nfected milkmaid) conferred protection against smallpox. Here, enner wrote his famous An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of he VariolæVaccinæ, or Cow-Pox, and published it in 1798 at his wn expense. This launched vaccination into mainstream medical ractice, first in England and then across the world. Jenner contined to promote vaccination from his home at the Chantry until the nd of his life, describing himself as “Vaccine Clerk to the World.” his building is truly the birthplace of vaccination and the right ocation to celebrate Jenner’s invention.