and the answer is…

Compulsory vaccination has been in existence for over 200 years. While many smaller groups were vaccinated during the 1700s, the full answer to our trivia question on facebook is: Bavaria was the first country to enact compulsory vaccination in 1807 when they required all servicemen to be vaccinated against smallpox.

The rationale for that move: Smallpox became a greater threat during times of battle, due in part to the significant amount of travel involved. At the time, most countries lost more men to smallpox or other infectious diseases than they did to battle. So, vaccinating the troops became a military tactic. George Washington, for example, elected to have his troops vaccinated in 1777 during a smallpox outbreak – an action that contributed significantly to American success in the war.

Among the general population, vaccination was optional during the late 1700s and early 1800s, though many clinical trials and individual groups elected to obtain inoculation. As many of your facebook guesses indicated, 1840 and 1853 were significant years for the vaccine in the UK. In 1840, inoculation with the actual disease was made illegal, and free cowpox vaccines were offered instead. In 1853, in England, the cowpox / smallpox vaccine became compulsory for all infants with a fine of 1 pound for non-compliance. In later years, this fine was increased and only the wealthy could afford to avoid vaccination.

While the actual act of mandatory vaccination is nothing new, neither is the act of defying the rule. The Anti-Vaccination League was officially formed in 1853 in London, though resistance to the law had been in place since the widespread acceptance of Jenner’s smallpox inoculation after his clinical trial was published in the late 1700s. This was followed by the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League in 1867. Some of the organizations meetings included individuals numbering over 100,000.

Vaccine laws and subsequent resistance have been prominent subjects of medical history since that time, with the introduction of new vaccines almost always being immediately followed by a group opposing the vaccine. Interestingly enough, many of the same arguments used in the late 1700s are still being used over 200 years later.