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
I. Friedrich : The Spreading of Jenner's Vaccination in Hungary 141 there were 74 — 95 who died 5 and the formers infected the others living around them, that is to say, vaccinations were closely followed by epidemics. Debates soon flared up in connection with variolation, but as there was not any other more reliable mode of defence, the above mentioned cure was used by the doctors. Besides, the "Ten Commandments" against contagious diseases were well-known from the 10th century, namely those basic rules which were created aiming at the prevention of epidemics. "Every man, in whose house there is a variolous, should write on his door : Here is small-pox poison "—sugIllustration from Jenner's book: A milk-maid's hand, infected by smallpox gested Ferenc Bene, one of the pioneers of vaccination in Hungary. 6 He called the attention of the nurses to the frequent washing of their hands, changing of their clothes and to their getting into touch with other people as rarely as they could. The ill person must not touch any money, book, letter and must not go by any means to church, to school or even to the street. The person, who died of variola should not be put into a coffin, because even the lifeless body can infect. At that time the name of Jenner was already well-known not only in the British Isles, but on the Continent, too. 7 Today the essence of his invention seems to be simple and self-evident to everybody, but it took almost a whole century for the doctors and non-professionals until they acknowledged his achievements. With his researches "he laid the foundation of immunology, as we can deduce two basic principles from it. One of them is the variability and mutability of the virulence of the infecting material and the other one is that an infecting 5 Patrubány, Gergely: A védtehénhimlő-ojtás közegészségi és gyógytani értéke (The Public Health and Medical Value of Vaccination by cow-pox). Gyógyászat, 1862. No. 17. p. 348. 0 Bene, Ferenc: A himlő veszedelmei ellen való oktatás (Teaching Against the Dangers of Variola). Pest, 1800. p. 65. 7 Die Geschichte der Impfung und Vakzination. Andenken an den Internationalen Aerztekongress London 1913. London, New York, Montreal, p. XX.
