Public Health: A Comparison of Jenner and Pasteur's Health Ideas

This essay delves into the contrasting yet impactful concepts of health presented by Edward Jenner and Louis Pasteur, two pivotal figures in the field of public health. The assignment explores Jenner's pioneering work with the smallpox vaccine, born from observations of cowpox and its protective effects, highlighting his understanding of the body's ability to develop immunity. It then examines Louis Pasteur's germ theory and his development of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccinations, emphasizing his contributions to increased life expectancy and disease recovery. The essay compares their approaches, noting the differences in their explanations of immunity and disease prevention, while also acknowledging their shared vision of health as a disease-free state supported by a strong immune system. The essay references key publications to support the comparison, providing a comprehensive analysis of their contributions and how they shaped modern public health.

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH
THE CONCEPT OF HEALTH
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1PUBLIC HEALTH
Finding explanations to life, death, health and disease is the topic of explanation for
health experts from ages and there are a variety of definitions provided by these renowned
physicians and sociologists regarding health (Aggleton 2013). In this assignment, the concept of
health provided by such eminent personalities such as Edward Jenner and Louis Pasteur will be
discussed and comparison of their beliefs regarding health will be mentioned.
Edward Jenner was one of the leading scientists that devoted his knowledge of health in
developing a smallpox vaccine, when there were no theories regarding the infection, germs or
bacteria that can infect humans (Tuells 2012). He was able to control small pox using serum for
cows affected with cowpox and hence, his contribution in serving humanity is inevitable (Fine
2014). Further, Louis Pasteur is one of the renowned scientists, whose work helped the humanity
by increasing the life-expectancy and recovery from infectious diseases (Geison 2014). His work
in the 19th century led to the discovery of germ theory of disease and he introduced to the world
that using prophylactic and therapeutic vaccination, any infectious disease can be treated. He
helped the humanity by discovering the immunity system and discovered the concept of
vaccination, when there were no theories regarding the distinction between virus, bacteria and
fungi (Berche 2012).
The concept of health for Edward Jenner can be reflected from his vaccination
development as the theory behind the small pox vaccine development was the observation made
by him about a milkmaid Sarah. Edward Jenner observed that after the primary infection with
cowpox, Sarah did not develop small pox and therefore he injected people with serum taken from
cows infected with cowpox to prevent the disease (Tuells 2012). Hence, according to him,
human body has the ability to memorize about past infections that led its security from re-

2PUBLIC HEALTH
occurrence of the same disease. On the other hand, Louis Pasteur determined that the air has the
capability to infect each human. However human body has a system that combats these
infections and maintain a balance between physiological conditions within the human system.
Therefore, according to Berche (2012), both these physicians were focused on proper balance
between each organ and sensory of human system and despite living in the infection-prone
environment, human immune system helps to maintain complete wellbeing.
Despite of being similarities in the works of these two eminent scientists, there are
several differences that exist within the process. Edward Jenner discovered small pox vaccine,
however he was unable to describe the physicians of that period the reason of immunization. As
the cowpox samples he took from the milkmaid Sarah were contaminated with small pox virus
and lack of further sample did not approved the process to be used by the authorities (Jensen-
Jarolim 2014). However, Louis Pasteur developed germ theory that provided answers to all the
questions regarding immunity and disease prevention through vaccination. Therefore, both these
renowned scientists varied in their explanation regarding immunity (Jensen-Jarolim 2014).
Hence, according to both of them, the concept of health is the disease free state of human body,
stress free mind and a strong immune system that has the ability to combat any infection within
the body.

3PUBLIC HEALTH
References
Aggleton, P. 2013. sociological approaches to health and illness. 2nd ed. London and New
York: Routledge, pp.5-56.
Berche, P., 2012. Louis Pasteur, from crystals of life to vaccination. Clinical Microbiology and
Infection, 18, pp.1-6.
Fine, P., 2014. Science and society: vaccines and public health. Public health, 128(8), pp.686-
692.
Geison, G. L., 2014. The private science of Louis Pasteur, 1st Edn, pp. 12-65, Princeton
University Press.
Jensen-Jarolim, E., 2014. Definition of comparative medicine: history and new identity.
In Comparative Medicine (pp. 1-18). Springer, Vienna.
Tuells, J., 2012. Vaccinology: the name, the concept, the adjectives. Vaccine, 30(37), pp.5491-
5495.