J. Antall szerk.: Medical history in Hungary 1972. Presented to the XXIII. International Congress of the History of Medicine / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 6. (Budapest, 1972)

I. Friedrich: The Spreading of Jenner's Vaccination in Hungary

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2 Medical History in Hungary 1972 (Comm. Hist. Artis Med. Suppl. 6.) Ferenc Bene (1775 —1858), an internist professor, suggested variolation against epidemics in his first book on variola.

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3 His second book appeared in 1802, in which he welcomed Jenner's "immortal" invention and mentioned physicians such as Woodville, Pearson, Simons, Fermor, Loy, Aiking, Thornton etc., who vaccinated apart from Jenner and wrote about vaccination. According to Bene vaccination was not only the great invention of the previous century, "but it was the most magnificent experience since the birth of medical science.

14 Jenner's hypothesis on the immunizing effect of the weaker virus against an infection of greater effect was proved by several experiments. Within a few years smallpox variolation was supplanted from European medical practice and its place was taken by prevention by a virus of smaller effect, notably vaccinia. In 1802 in Italy, in 1803 in Austria and Hungary and in 1802—1800 in the various German states variolation was prohibited. The English Parliament, after a long fight with the antivaccinators ordered the suppressing of variolation in 1840, later than most other countries.

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5 THE PIONEERS OF VACCINATION IN HUNGARY "It is pleasing to say that in Hungary the medical profession recognized the public sanitational importance of Jenner's preventive vaccination at once

... not waiting for encouragement from above they began vaccination with a great zeal as instantly as they took notice of it from the first scientific publications."

16 The introduction of vaccination in Hungary is attributed to Ferenc Bene both by general opinion at home and by foreign literature.

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7 The famous physician really did a lot for spreading Jenner's vaccination. He was the first who perfomed vaccination in public in Pest on 27th August 1801. He received the vaccina from de Carro. The Magyar Kurrir (The Hungarian Courier) published in Vienna, gave an account of the event. By the end of the year Bene vaccinated 183 children. During this time he helped other physicians to get acquainted with the technique of vaccination and called the attention of the Consilium locumtenentiale to pay the doctors properly who had taken part in the mass vaccination. He knew that one of the essential conditions of the large-scale spreading of the inoculations is to make the concept of vaccination clear for the public. With the aim of enlightening he wrote a book which was published in 1802: "Short Teaching on the Origin, Nature and Inoculation 1

3 Bene, Ferenc: Rövid oktatás a mentőhimlőről (Short Teaching About Protective Variola) Buda, 1816. 2nd ed. Preface p. IV. 1

4 Bene, Ferenc: A himlő veszedelmei ellen való oktatás (Teaching Against the Dangers of Variola). Pest, 1800. p. 74. 1

5 Högÿes, Endre: Jenner és a védoltások tana (Jenner and the Doctrine of Vaccination). O. H. 1896. No. 39. p. 466—470. 1

6 Gortvay, György: A himlőoltás magyar története (The Hungarian History of Vaccination). Népeg. ügy. 1950. No. 12. p. 677. 1

7 Biographisches Lexikon der Hervorragenden Aerzte aller Zeiten und Völker. Wien

— Leipzig, 1884. p. 388.