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Religious Conviction and The Boston Inoculation Controversy of 1721
Storm, Anna E.
Storm, Anna E.
Abstract
"Ultimately, society must recognize that science is not a democracy in which the side with the most votes or the loudest voices gets to decide what is right." This quote is part of a larger article, "The Age-Old Struggle against the Antivaccinationists," published on January 13, 2011 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Written by Gregory A Poland, M.D., and Robert M. Jacobson, M.D., the article discusses the problem of "antivaccinationists," or people who use fear to deter society from vaccinating themselves and their families. Now, almost two centuries later, skeptics are still using all means possible to spread misinformation about the risks associated with vaccination, despite it's proven safety and efficacy. Convincing people that vaccination is in their best interest is a challenging task that society has struggled with for a long time. To make this point, Poland and Jacobson refer specifically to the inoculation debate in Boston in the seventeenth century, and the hesitancy of many individuals to inoculate themselves and their families shortly after the practice had been invented and introduced.
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Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.
Date
2011-05-13
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Inoculation, Smallpox
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History