Balmis Expedition

Balmis Expedition was a three year mission to the Americas led by Dr Francisco de Balmis with the aim of giving thousands the smallpox vaccine. He set off from La Coruña on 30 November 1803. It may be considered the first international sanitary expedition in history¹.

The king Charles IV of Spain supported his royal doctor Balmis, since his daughter María Luisa had suffered the illness. The expedition occurred on the Maria Pita ship and carried 22 orphan boys (8-10 years old) as successive carriers in vivo of the vaccine, Balmis, a deputy surgeon, 2 assistants, 2 first-aid practitioners, 3 male nurses and the rectoress of a Santiago de Compostela orphanage².

Contents

1 The course 1.1 Puerto Rico 1.2 Venezuela 1.3 Mexico (1805) 1.4 Philippines 1.5 China 1.6 Return 2 Notes 3 External links

The course

The mission took the vaccine to the Canary Islands, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, the Philippines and China³. The ship carried also scientific instruments and translations of the "Historical and Practical Treaty on the vaccine " by Moreau de Sarthe to be distributed to the local vaccine commissions to be founded.

Puerto Rico

The local population was already inoculated with a vaccine carried from the Danish colony Saint Thomas.

Venezuela

The expedition divided at La Guayra .

• José Salvany, the deputy surgeon, went towards today's Colombia and the Viceroyalty of Peru (Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Bolivia). They took seven years and the toils of the voyage brought death to Salvany (Cochabamba, 1810).
• Balmis went to Caracas and later to Havana. The local poet Andrés Bello wrote an ode to Balmis.

Mexico (1805)

In Mexico, Balmis took 25 orphans to maintain the vaccine during the crossing of the Pacific.

Philippines

They received help from the church. Balmis dismissed back to Mexico the gross of the expedition and went further to China.

China

Balmis landed on Macau and went also to Canton.

Return

In his way back to Spain, Balmis convinced the authorities of Saint Helena (1806) to take the vaccine.

The discoverer of the vaccine Edward Jenner himself wrote "I don’t imagine the annals of history furnish an example of philanthropy so noble, so extensive as this.”

Notes

1. La Coruña: A progressive city, historical information as part the official web site for the city of La Coruña. Verified availability 2005-03-03.
2. McIntyre, John W.R. MB BS; and Houston, C. Stuart MD (1999). Medicine in Canada: Smallpox and its control in Canada. Canadian Medical Association Journal 161(12), 1543-1547. PMID 10624414.
3. de Romo, Ana Cecilia Rodríguez (1997). Inoculation in the 1799 smallpox epidemic in Mexico: Myth or real solution?. Antilia:Spanish Journal of History of Natural Sciences and Technology.

External links

• Society of Philippine Health History article
• En el nombre de los Niños. Real expedición Filantrópica de la Vacuna 1803-1806. Spanish language PDF book by the Spanish Pediatry Association.