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Review
. 2022 Dec:213:47-53.
doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2022.09.012. Epub 2022 Sep 29.

Smallpox vaccination and vaccine hesitancy in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1801) and the great modernity of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon: a glimpse of the past in the era of the SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic

M Martini  1 , M Bifulco  2 , D Orsini  3
Affiliations
Review

Smallpox vaccination and vaccine hesitancy in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1801) and the great modernity of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon: a glimpse of the past in the era of the SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic

M Martini et al. Public Health. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: The current health emergency caused by COVID-19 disease shows several correspondences with well-known epidemics of the past. The knowledge of their management and overcoming could give us useful tools to face the present COVID-19 pandemic and future epidemics.

Study design: On 1 March 1801, the first smallpox vaccinations were carried out in Palermo, and a few weeks later, the vaccine was also administered in Naples and the various provinces of the Kingdom. We aim to study the mass vaccination programme initiated by the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV that was the first large-scale campaign to be conducted in Italy and one of the first in Europe.

Methods: The authors searched and examined historical testimony and different aspects linked to the public health issues on vaccination. It is a topical topic in the current period with the COVID pandemic.

Results: Albeit with the due differences determined by the passage of time and by the scientific and cultural advances of modern society, this testimony from the past can provide us with food for thought regarding how to face the present COVID-19 pandemic and to prepare for the future. Indeed, it shows us how the terrible smallpox epidemic was handled and finally overcome, thanks to vaccination.

Keywords: History of hygiene; History of vaccination; Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; Public health; Vaccine hesitancy; XIX century.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Portrait of Ferdinando IV di Borbone (Napoli 1751–1825).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Portrait of Edward Jenner (1749–1823).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The origin of the vaccine and inoculation (1801).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Antonio Miglietta (1767–1826).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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