Blog der Hauptbibliothek

The history of vaccination starts with smallpox. In 1796, Edward Jenner introduced the cowpox vaccine, which was adopted rapidly all over Europe. The Medical Collection of the University of Zurich keeps various objects allowing us to trace its history. Numerous vaccination lancets and needles are stored in boxes. Dr. Martin Trachsel, research associate, guides us […]

Fortsetzung

Swiss companies have been exporting vaccines for a long time. There was a final peak in 2001, when fear of bioterrorist attacks suddenly brought the smallpox vaccine Lancy Vaxina back into demand. After the attack on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, the Swiss company Berna Biotech experienced a sudden increase of demand […]

Fortsetzung

Vaccine hesitancy is as old as vaccination itself. The first time it became a poltical issue in Switzerland was the vote on a Federal Epidemics Act in 1882. After a heated referendum campaign, the act was overwhelmingly rejected by almost 80% of the electorate. What were the reasons for this and why did vaccination remain […]

Fortsetzung

In 1947, the city of Zurich honoured the dermatologist Max Tièche (1878-1938) by naming a street after him. His great achievement was the foundation of the first municipal clinic for skin and venereal diseases. Situated in the working class district Aussersihl, it treated low-income patients at affordable rates. It is less well known that Max […]

Fortsetzung

For centuries, smallpox was one of the most dreaded infectious diseases. No other illness, except for the black death, claimed as many lives in European history. Switzerland’s last smallpox epidemic was in 1921-1925. Fortunately, it was relatively mild. Spreading from Zurich to all of Switzerland The first smallpox case was reported in Oerlikon on 8 […]

Fortsetzung

Who still knows smallpox? The once feared epidemic was the first infectious disease eradicated worldwide through vaccination programs. Yet only 100 ago, Zurich was hit hard in the last Swiss outbreak. On May 8, 1921, the first cases of smallpox were reported in Oerlikon. Within a very short time, the virus spread all over Switzerland […]

Fortsetzung