NCJ Number
192093
Date Published
2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This chapter discusses vaccination and biological warfare.
Abstract
The chapter observes that, throughout history, disease has played a significant role in strategy and geopolitics. While many lives have been lost to the violence of war, many more have resulted from disease during battle rather than actual combat. By the mid-20th century, dramatic improvements had been made in managing disease in the military context, but even then infectious disease claimed thousands of lives. Smallpox virus had been a centuries-old threat to military forces, and there was little one could do to avoid smallpox until at least A.D. 1000, when the Han Chinese probably first learned of variolation. Variolation, the controlled exposure to smallpox in order to avoid contracting the full-blown disease, was used to inoculate people against smallpox for many centuries. Although clearly effective, variolation was a very dangerous method of inoculatioon. This would change dramatically upon the introduction of Jenner's vaccine in the late 18th century. Edward Jenner's use of the inoculum Variolae vaccinae revolutionized prophylaxis against smallpox. The chapter reviews some of the arguments for and against the U.S. Department of Defense's proposed mandated inoculation of all military personnel. Notes