The Balmis Expedition

The Balmis Expedition

First model of a global fight against pandemics

  • Editor: CSIC
  • ISBN: 9788400111212
  • Lloc de publicació:  Madrid , Spain
  • Any de publicació: 2023
  • Pàgines: 358
On November 30, 1803, the corvette María Pita sailed from the port of A Coruña. On board were twenty-two orphaned children whose mission was to carry the newly discovered smallpox vaccine in their own bodies to the Spanish overseas territories. Leading this global health vaccination adventure, known as the Balmis Expedition or the Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition, was Dr. Francisco Xavier Balmis. He was accompanied by José Salvany and Isabel Zendal, among others. At the request of the Council of the Indies, Charles IV authorized and financed the expedition, whose status as the greatest humanitarian feat in history is due not only to the courage of those children who were called upon to save the lives of more than half a million people, but also to the courage of its director, Francisco Xavier Balmis, a model of health care behavior. The Balmis Expedition was the first mass vaccination program in history and there is no other humanitarian mission of comparable magnitude. The expedition is an inspiring example of what science and an adventurous spirit can do for humanity. The discoverer of the smallpox vaccine, Edward Jenner, wrote about the expedition: "I cannot imagine in the annals of history a nobler and more extensive example of philanthropy than this". Today we can affirm that the model of the fight against COVID-19 has its germ in this pioneering medical epic.
  • Cover
  • Credits
  • Front page
  • Foreword
  • Contents
  • THE ROYAL VACCINE EXPEDITION, 1803-1810
  • A HEALTH ADVENTURE
  • RELATIONS AND CONTEXTS: FROM THE EIGHTEENTH TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
  • REVOLUTION IN THE AIR. SPANISH AMERICA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
  • ABANDONMENT AND SHELTER. LIFE IN A FOUNDLING HOSPITAL IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
  • THE VALUE OF HEALTH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
  • SMALLPOX: SEQUELAE AND DEATH
  • THE EPIDEMIC IN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES
  • JENNER’S DISCOVERY IN SPAIN
  • PROFILES AND PERSPECTIVES OF FRANCISCO XAVIER BALMIS Y BERENGUER
  • FRANCISCO BALMIS, AN EXAMPLE OF ENLIGHTENED PUBLIC SERVICE
  • THE MILITARY ACTIVITY OF FRANCISCO BALMIS
  • FRANCISCO BALMIS’ MEDICAL ACTIVITY IN MEXICAN HOSPITALS
  • FRANCISCO BALMIS, CREATOR OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
  • WHAT FRANCISCO BALMIS READ AND WHAT HE KNEW
  • FRAMEWORKS AND PERSPECTIVES OF THE ROYAL PHILANTHROPIC VACCINE EXPEDITION
  • PREVENTION OF SMALLPOX AND ITS IMPACT OVERSEAS
  • DISTRIBUTION OF THE VACCINE IN THE AMERICAS BEFORE THE EXPEDITION
  • THE VACCINE EXPEDITION IN THE CONTEXT OF ENLIGHTENMENT EXPEDITIONS
  • IN CORPORE VILI. SMALLPOX AND VACCINATION IN THE FINAL YEARS OF THE ANCIEN RÉGIME
  • CHILDREN AS HUMAN RESERVOIRS OF VACCINAL PUS
  • WOMEN IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROYAL PHILANTHROPIC VACCINE EXPEDITION
  • AN EPIC FOR HEALTH: ODES TO VACCINATION ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC
  • THE BALMIS EXPEDITION IN THE SPANISH NOVEL
  • FROM SCIENTIFIC IMAGE TO THE IMAGINED EXPEDITION
  • EPILOGUE
  • THE LEGACY OF THE BALMIS EXPEDITION AND THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF VACCINES
  • THE DNA OF THE VIRUS OF THE SMALLPOX VACCINE
  • Bibliography
  • Photography Credits
  • Back cover

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