Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnologies, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy.
Public Health. 2022 Dec;213:47-53. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2022.09.012. Epub 2022 Sep 29.
The current health emergency caused by COVID-19 disease shows several correspondences with well-known epidemics of the past. The knowledge of their management and overcoming could give us useful tools to face the present COVID-19 pandemic and future epidemics.
On 1 March 1801, the first smallpox vaccinations were carried out in Palermo, and a few weeks later, the vaccine was also administered in Naples and the various provinces of the Kingdom. We aim to study the mass vaccination programme initiated by the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV that was the first large-scale campaign to be conducted in Italy and one of the first in Europe.
The authors searched and examined historical testimony and different aspects linked to the public health issues on vaccination. It is a topical topic in the current period with the COVID pandemic.
Albeit with the due differences determined by the passage of time and by the scientific and cultural advances of modern society, this testimony from the past can provide us with food for thought regarding how to face the present COVID-19 pandemic and to prepare for the future. Indeed, it shows us how the terrible smallpox epidemic was handled and finally overcome, thanks to vaccination.
由 COVID-19 疾病引起的当前卫生紧急情况与过去著名的流行病有几处对应之处。了解它们的管理和克服方法可以为我们提供有用的工具，以应对当前的 COVID-19 大流行和未来的流行病。
1801 年 3 月 18 日，在巴勒莫进行了第一批天花疫苗接种，几周后，那不勒斯和王国的各个省份也开始接种疫苗。我们旨在研究波旁国王费迪南德四世发起的大规模疫苗接种计划，该计划是意大利首次大规模接种疫苗运动之一，也是欧洲首批此类运动之一。
作者搜索并检查了与疫苗接种有关的历史证词和不同方面的公共卫生问题。这是当前 COVID 大流行期间的一个热门话题。
尽管由于时间的推移以及现代社会的科学和文化进步而存在差异，但过去的这一证词可以为我们提供一些思考，帮助我们应对当前的 COVID-19 大流行，并为未来做好准备。事实上，它向我们展示了如何通过接种疫苗来应对可怕的天花疫情，并最终克服了它。
