Resumen en Español:

Resumen Se investigan distintos sistemas para controlar la viruela a principios del siglo XIX, considerando el accionar de diferentes agentes, mecanismos y estrategias intervinientes en su organización, fabricación y distribución. Esta peligrosa enfermedad apareció en América desde la invasión europea. Las prácticas de inmunización llegaron al Virreinato del Río de la Plata en 1805, coordinadas primero por el Protomedicato y luego a través del Conservatorio de Vacunas. Las dificultades económicas y guerras del naciente Estado complicaron la inoculación de virus humanos y cowpox. Se utilizaron seres humanos como reservorio viral, sin lograr controlar las epidemias. La replicación de las experiencias europeas para obtención de virus similares no proporcionó un producto seguro.

Resumen en Inglés:

Abstract Different systems for controlling smallpox in the early nineteenth century are investigated, considering the actions of different agents, mechanisms, and strategies involved in its organization, manufacture, and distribution. This dangerous disease emerged in the Americas following European colonization. Immunization practices arrived in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1805, coordinated first by the Protomedicato and later through the Conservatory of Vaccines. The economic hardship and wars of the fledging state hindered the inoculation of human and cowpox viruses. Humans were used as viral reservoirs, yet the epidemics remained uncontrolled. Replication of European experiments to obtain similar viruses failed to provide a safe product.

Resumen en Español:

Resumen Este artículo examina las respuestas de las autoridades políticas y sanitarias en Chile frente a las epidemias de viruela, centrándose en las herramientas empleadas (aislamiento, variolización y vacunación) y el fortalecimiento institucional que culminó en la obligatoriedad de la vacunación antivariólica. Sostenemos que estas respuestas reflejan la centralización del poder estatal en salud pública y un proceso de consolidación institucional. Sin embargo, la implementación de estas políticas enfrentó una resistencia pasiva, evidenciada en el bajo número de vacunados durante la primera mitad del siglo XX, lo que revela tensiones entre los objetivos sanitarios estatales y su aceptación social.

Resumen en Inglés:

Abstract This article explores how political and health authorities in Chile responded to smallpox epidemics. It focuses on the methods employed (isolation, variolation, and vaccination) and the institutional strengthening that led to mandatory smallpox vaccination. We argue that these responses reflect the centralization of state power in public health and a process of institutional consolidation. However, the implementation of these policies met with passive resistance, as evidenced by low vaccination rates in the first half of the twentieth century. This reveals tensions between state health objectives and their social acceptance.

Resumen en Español:

Resumen Este artículo analiza la introducción, propagación y desafíos de la vacuna en Yucatán, México, desde su introducción en 1802 hasta 1902, cuando se realizaban campañas recurrentes de vacunación. A partir de fuentes cuantitativas y cualitativas abordamos la llegada de la vacuna y los primeros esfuerzos de las autoridades para propagarla por la región. Estudiamos la resistencia de la población a vacunarse y las estrategias del Estado para difundir el antídoto. Presentamos gráficas del número de las personas inoculadas, principalmente a finales del siglo XIX. Argumentamos que, a pesar de los esfuerzos iniciales, múltiples contratiempos impidieron el desarrollo eficiente de las campañas, pero poco a poco la vacunación se consolidó.

Resumen en Inglés:

Abstract This article analyzes the introduction, spread, and challenges of vaccination in Yucatán, Mexico, from its introduction in 1802 through 1902, a period marked by recurrent vaccination campaigns. Using quantitative and qualitative sources, I approach the arrival of the vaccine and the initial efforts made by authorities to promote it throughout the region. I studied the population’s resistance to vaccination and the state’s strategies to disseminate the antidote. I also present graphs showing the number of people inoculated, mainly at the end of the nineteenth century. I argue that despite the initial efforts, multiple setbacks hindered the effective development of the vaccination campaigns, but the vaccination became consolidated over time.

Resumen en Portugués:

Resumo Este artigo aborda interseções entre vacinação e escravidão no Brasil colonial, destacando a chegada da vacina antivariólica à Bahia e sua disseminação para outras regiões do Império português, incluindo localidades na África. A história de meninos escravizados, prioritariamente inoculados e vacinados entre o final do século XVIII e o início do século XIX, ganha destaque mediante a análise de fontes bibliográficas e documentais que ilustram a atuação de agentes históricos como Felisberto Caldeira Brant, Francisco da Cunha Menezes e Francisco Ignácio de Sequeira Nobre. A atuação desses personagens revela a iniciativa de senhores escravistas na busca por solução contra a varíola, evidenciando complexas relações entre escravidão, ciência e saúde.

Resumen en Inglés:

Abstract This article discusses the intersections between vaccination and slavery in colonial Brazil, highlighting the arrival of the smallpox vaccine in Bahia and its spread to other regions of the Portuguese Empire including its holdings in Africa. We highlight the story of enslaved boys, who were primarily inoculated and vaccinated between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, through analysis of bibliographical and documentary sources that illustrate the actions of historical figures such as Felisberto Caldeira Brant, Francisco da Cunha Menezes and Francisco Ignácio Sequeira Nobre. These activities reveal the initiative of slave owners in the search for solutions against smallpox, highlighting the complex relationships between slavery, science and health.

Resumen en Portugués:

Resumo O artigo identifica o impacto da varíola sobre africanos e seus descendentes no Rio de Janeiro na primeira metade do século XIX a partir de diferentes modos de aproximação: registros de óbitos; anúncios de fugas, venda e roubo; e discursos médicos sobre a doença. Argumentamos que, embora a varíola não tenha aparecido como a enfermidade com maior evidência entre as causas de morte de escravizados, esteve presente para os médicos e para aqueles que sobreviviam à doença. As sequelas, em grande parte em forma de marcas na pele, constituíam um sinal da escravidão alardeado nos anúncios de fuga, roubo ou venda.

Resumen en Inglés:

Abstract This article identifies the impact of smallpox on Africans and their descendants in Rio de Janeiro in the first half of the nineteenth century, drawing on different approaches: death registry; announcements of escapes, theft or sale; and medical discourses on the disease. Our argument is that although smallpox did not appear as the most evident infirmity among the enslaved people’s cause of death, it was present for doctors and those who survived it. The sequelae, mostly in the form of marks on the skin, were a sign of slavery highlighted in announcements of escapes, theft or sale.

Resumen en Español:

Resumen La historia de la vacunación contra la viruela evidencia el progreso médico y la cooperación internacional frente a las enfermedades infecciosas. Este estudio examina los recursos tecnológicos y logísticos que permitieron la conservación y el transporte del fluido vacunal entre Europa y América en los albores del siglo XIX. A partir de fuentes primarias y secundarias, se reconstruyen los métodos de preservación de la vacuna antivariólica y las redes institucionales que permitieron sortear desafíos técnicos y ambientales, aportando una mirada material y sociotécnica escasamente estudiada en la historiografía tradicional.

Resumen en Inglés:

Abstract The history of smallpox vaccination demonstrates medical progress and international cooperation in the face of infectious diseases. This study examines the technological and logistical resources that enabled the preservation and transport of vaccine material between Europe and the Americas at the dawn of the nineteenth century. Drawing on primary and secondary sources, the study reconstructs the methods used to preserve the smallpox vaccine and the institutional networks that overcame technical and environmental challenges, offering a material and sociotechnical perspective that has been little explored in traditional historiography.

Resumen en Portugués:

Resumo Este artigo analisa os principais debates sobre a vacina antivariólica no Império português, no início do século XIX, com ênfase na obra Reflexões e observações sobre a prática da inoculação da vacina e as suas funestas consequências (1808), do médico português Heliodoro Carneiro. Trata-se de uma das primeiras obras publicadas em Portugal sobre a vacina antivariólica, destacando-se por sua posição contrária à vacinação. A análise da obra é relevante por integrar perspectivas médicas, sociais e científicas que embasaram a recusa à vacina, fomentando debates e contestações por parte de diversos médicos. Assim, este estudo contribui para o aprofundamento dos debates sobre a vacina e a medicina no século XIX.

Resumen en Inglés:

Abstract This article analyses the main debates on the anti-smallpox vaccine in the Portuguese Empire in the early-nineteenth century, emphasizing the work Reflections and observations on the practice of vaccine inoculation and its dire consequences (1808), by the Portuguese physicist Heliodoro Carneiro. It was one of the early works published in Portugal on the anti-smallpox vaccine, highlighting his position against the vaccination. The analysis of the work is relevant because it integrates medical, social and scientific perspectives that substantiated the refusal to the vaccine, fomenting debates and objections from other physicists. Thus, this study contributes to deepen the debates on vaccine and medicine in the nineteenth century.

Resumen en Portugués:

Resumo A entrevista com a professora Tania Maria Dias Fernandes, pesquisadora aposentada da Casa de Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz, explora sua trajetória acadêmica, que abrange estudos sobre a história das ciências, saúde pública e vacinas. Entre os temas discorridos pela entrevistada, destacam-se pesquisas sobre a institucionalização da vacina antivariólica, a erradicação da varíola, o papel da vigilância sanitária e os desafios históricos e contemporâneos enfrentados por comunidades marginalizadas. A entrevista também aborda as estratégias adotadas no processo de vacinação, os debates científicos que influenciaram as políticas de saúde e a importância de entender a saúde pública por meio de uma abordagem interdisciplinar.

Resumen en Inglés:

Abstract This interview with retired Casa de Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz researcher Tania Maria Dias Fernandes explores her academic trajectory, which covers studies on the history of science, public health and vaccines. Notable topics include the institutionalization of the smallpox vaccine, the eradication of smallpox, the role of health surveillance and the historical and contemporary challenges faced by marginalized communities. The interview also addresses strategies adopted during the vaccination process, scientific debates that influenced health policy, and the importance of understanding public health through an interdisciplinary approach.

Resumen en Español:

Resumen En esta entrevista, la profesora Susana Ramírez Martín habla de su trayectoria académica, relacionándola con los retos que supone dedicarse a un tema interdisciplinar, especialmente en España, donde la historiografía de la medicina y la salud se han desarrollado con una importante participación de médicos. También profundiza temas relacionados con su investigación sobre la Real Expedición Filantrópica de la Vacuna, aportando reflexiones comparativas sobre la introducción de la vacuna de Jenner en la América española y en la América portuguesa.

Resumen en Inglés:

Abstract In this interview, Professor Susana Ramírez Martín discusses her academic career and the challenges of pursuing an interdisciplinary field, especially in Spain. She highlights how the historiography of medicine and health has developed with significant participation from medical practitioners. She also explores topics from her research on the Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition, offering comparative reflections on the introduction of Jenner’s vaccine in Spanish and Portuguese America.