The Earliest Report of Smallpox Oral Vaccination by Baha’ Al-Dawlah Razi in the 16Th Century Publisher Pubmed

Summary: Was smallpox stopped early? Study finds Persian oral vaccination predates Jenner by centuries. #Smallpox #VaccinationHistory

Arabian S^{1, 2} ; Sadr M³ ; Ayati MH^{1, 4} ; Ince F⁵ ; Zargaran A¹
Source: Vaccine Published:2025

Abstract

Smallpox is one of the viral and contagious diseases that were always talked about and deadly epidemics that killed many people for many centuries. Through the analysis of historical and textual material, this paper seeks to investigate the smallpox eradication process. It starts with a brief history of smallpox before listing the common methods of eradicating the illness throughout the 16th century. There was a type of traditional oral smallpox vaccination, reported by Baha’ al-Dawlah Razi, a Persian physician in his book, Khulasat al-Tajarib (The Summary of Experiences). This method could be considered the earliest remained report of practical solution to prevent smallpox; at least 3 centuries earlies than smallpox vaccination by Edward Jenner. © 2025