VACCI NATI ON I N I NDI A

B. M. Hegde
Dean, Kasturba Medical College
Mangalore 57500 I
India
Most of the hi-tech stuff of the present day are only half
way technologies . This is very much true in the field of
medicine, nay in all the sciences. What is science ? Is an excellent
question and the best answer is " science is what scientists
do". put differently in Dutch it sounds better Wetenschap Is
Wat Wetenschappers Doen. Let us look at some of these .
Lewis Thomas, former President of the Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Centre in New York, in his book The Lives of a Cell classifies
modern-technology in medicine into three groups".
(1) Non-Technology :- The so-called supportive therapy.
(2) Hal f-way Technology :-Technology designed to palliate (to
cloak) symptoms and postpone death if possible! Outstanding
examples being spare-part surgery, artificial organs, coronary
bypass surgeries, angioplasties, cancer therapy etc. They are
in addition , prohibitively expensive from the community
point of view. Even today approximately 80% of the world
population dependswhollyor partiallyon traditional medicines
for primary helth care.
(3) Really hi-tech: That which comes wi th good understanding
of the disease process. This class is "hi ghl y sophisticated and
profoundly primitive". It attracts least public notice. Lewis
Thomas puts smallpox eradication by vaccination in this
ategory.
Credit here must surely go to Edward Jenner but the real her6
was that thirteen year old innocent boy, James Phipps, who
did not know that he was being used as a guinea pig in a
possibly fatal experiment, when Edward Jenner gave him an
inoculation of live small pox virus. This was based on anecdotal
information from a milk maid I. Norma, that people who
get cowpox( i n latin vacca means cow ) do not suffer from
small pox. Edward Jenner did something which today' s science
and medical ethics woul d not have forgiven. Since the
experiment succeeded, we applaud Jenner. If the experiment
had failed the world woul d not have known that an innocent
boy was killed by research misadventure I God only knows
how many innocent lives have been lost in such heroic
experiments where the former were used unbeknownst to them.
Few in the West know that we in India had an elaborate system
of small pox vaccination, the details of which were documented
13122 lJO & HNS. Vol, 50 No. 2, April-June, 1998
Vaccination in India- B. M. Hegde
by Dr. J. H. Ho l we l l , F.R.S. in his letter to the
President of the Royal College of Physicians of
London in the year 1747 AT).
" On pursui ng l atel y some tracts upon the
subject of Inocul ati on, I determi ned t o put
together a f ew notes relative t o the manner of
Inocul ati on, practi sed, t i me out of mi nd by the
Brahmins of Indostan ; t o this I was chi ef l y
investigated, by the great benefit that may arise
to manki nd f rom a knowl edge of this foreign
method, whi ch so remarkabl y tends to support
the practice now generally f ol l owed wi t h such
marvelous success'.
The story of smallpox goes thus : " By the
earliest account we have of small pox, we fi nd
it first appeared in Egypt in the t i me of Omar,
successor to Mahomet ; t hough no doubt , since
t he Greeks knew not hi ng of it, the Arabians
brought it f rom own count ry; but mi ght deri ve
it ori gi nal l y f rom some of the more distant
regions of the East".
The sagacity of the above conclusions, later
times and discoveries has f ul l y ver i f i ed, three
thousand years before 1747 AD (five thousand
years ago) as the Indian scriptures institute a
form of di vi ne worshi p (Poojah) to the "Goddess
of spots".
I nocul at i on is perf ormed in Indostan by a
parti cul ar t r i beof Brahmins, who are delegated
annual l y f or this service f rom the different
Colleges of B i ndoobund, E leabas, Banaras, &c.
Over al l t he di st ant pr ovi nces ; di v i di ng
themselves into small parties, of three or f our
each, they plan t hei r travel i ng circuits in such
ways as t o arrive at the places of t hei r respective
destination some weeks before the usual return
of the disease; they arrive commonl y in the
Bengal provinces earl y in February, al though
they some years do not begin to inoculate before
March, deferring it unti l they consi der the state
of the season, and acqui re i nformati on of the
state of the distemper.
The inhabitants of Bengal, knowi ng the usual
t i me when the i nocul ati ng Brahmins annual l y
return, observe strictly the regimen enj oi ned
whet her they determi ne t o be inoculated or
not; this preparation consists onl y in abstaining
for a month from f i sh, mi l k, and ghee, (a kind
of butter made general l y of buffalo' s milk) ;
the prohi bi t i on of fish respects onl y the native
Portuguese and Mohammedans, who abound
in every provi nce of the empire.
When the Brahmins begin to inoculate, they
pass from house to house and operate at
the door, refusing t o i nocul ate any who have
not, on a strict scrutiny, dul y observed the
preparat ory course enj oi ned t hem. It is no
uncommon t hi ng f or t hemt o askthe parents
how many pocks they chuse t hei r question
on a matted seemingly so uncertain in the issue;
but true it is that they hardl y ever exceed,
or are def i ci ent , in the number required.
Previous to the operati on the Operat or takes
a piece of cl oth in this hand, ( whi ch becomes
his perquisite if the f ami l y is opul ent,) and
wi t h it gives a dr y friction upon the part intended
for i nocul at i on, f or the space of eight or ten
mi nut es, t hen wi t h a smal l i nst rument he
wounds, by many slight touches, about the
compass of a silver groat, j ust maki ng the
smallest appearance of bl ood, then openi ng a
linen doubl e rag (whi ch he al ways keeps in a
cl oth round his waist) takes from thence a small
pl edgi t of cotton charged wi t h the vari ol ous
matter, whi ch he moistens wi t h t wo or three
drops of the Ganges water, and applies it to
the wound, f i xi ng it on wi t h a slight bandage,
and orderi ng it t o remain on f or six hours
wi t hout bei ng moved, then the bandage, to
be taken off, and the pledget t o remain until
it falls of f itself; some times (but rarely) he
squeezes a dr op from the pledget, upon the
part, before he applies it; f r om. t he t i me he
begins the dry fri cti on, to t yi ng the knot of
the bandage, he never ceases reciting some
port i ons of the wor shi p appoi nt ed, by the
Aughtorrah Bhade, t o be paid to the female
di vi ni t y before-menti oned, nor quits the most
solemn countenance all the whi l e. The cotton
whi ch he preserves in a doubl e cal l i co rag, is
saturated wi t h mat t er f r om t he i nocul at ed
pustules of the preceding year, f or they never
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Vaccination in India- B. NL Hegde
i nocul at e wi t h fresh matter, nor wi t h matter
f r om t he disease caught in t he natural way,
however di st i nct and mi l d the species. He then
proceeds t o give i nst ruct i ons f or the treatment
of t he pat i ent t hr ough the course of the process,
whi c h are most rel i gi ousl y observed.
The i nst rument t hey make use o f , is of
i ron, about f our i nches and a hal f l ong, and
of t he size of a l al ge c r ow qui l l , t he mi ddl e
is t wi st ed, and t he one end is steeled and
flatted about an i nch f r om t he extre mity, and
t he ei ghth of an i nch broad; thi s ext remi t y
is br ought t o a very keen edge, and t wo
sharp corners; t he ot her end of the i nst rument
is an earpi cker, and t he i nst rument is preci sel y
the same as t he Barbers of Indostan use t o
cut t he nails, and depur at e t he ears of t hei r
customers, (for in that count ry, we are.above
performi ng ei t her of these operati ons ourselves)
The Oper at or of i nocul at i on hol ds t he
i nst rument as we hol d a pen, and wi t h
dexterous exepedi t i on gives about fifteen or
si xteen mi nut e scar i f i cat i ons ( wi t hi n t he
compass above men t i oned) wi t h one of t he
sharp cormers of t he i nst r ument , and t o these
vari ous little wounds, I bel i eve maybe ascrbed
t he di scharge whi c h al most const ant l y f l ows
f rom the part in t he progress of t he disease.
I cannot hel p t hi nki ng t hat t oo much has
been sai d ( pr o and con) a b o u t n o t h i n g ,
respecti ng t he di fferent met hods preferred by
di fferent pr act i t i oner s of per f or mi ng t he
operat i on; provi ded t he matter is t hr own i nt o
the bl ood, it is certai nl y, a consi derat i on of
most tri vi al i mport by what means it is effected;i f
any cl ai ms a preference, I shoul d concl ude it
shoul d be that met hod whi c h bi ds fairest
f or securi ng a pl enti ful di scharge f rom t he
ul cer. "
I am sure that thi s met hod of vacci nat i ons
has not been bettered even in t he Jenner's
vacci nat i on t echni c. It is t i me t hat we l ook
i nt o the wi sdom in our count r y rather than
l ook f or western t hought s in many t hi ngs of
day to day i mport ance. The Royal Soci ety sent
many otherschol ars t o Indi a in the 18th cent ury
t o study Indi an wi sdom and al l that is avai l abl e
i nt he archives of t he Royal Scoi ety in London.
n 1 2 4 I JO & H N S . V o l , 5 0 N o . 2 , Ap r i l - J u n e , 1 9 9 8