[The history of small pox prevention in Korea]

The first record of small pox epidemics in Korea claims that the malignant pestilence came from China around the 4th-5th century. Records have been found indicating that this pestilence attacked Korea every few years and that the havoc it caused was beyond description. China was the first country in the orient to use Jenner's vaccine, 10 years after its invention in 1796. The effect of the vaccine had been widely recognized and it was introduced to Korea through Japan. Mr. Sok-Yong Chi, an educator who was much interested in modern medical science, with the cooperation of the public, introduced wide usage of the vaccine in December 1879. Through continued effort with vaccination by 1959 this pestilence had completely disappeared from this country. Before the introduction of vaccinations, the variolation method, which came from China was also practiced here. Its effect was not recognized by the public and the method did not become popular. In addition, a few other methods to prevent this pestilence were introduced. Methods such as inhalation of pox-liquid and insertion of scar-pills (a chinese style of intranasal inoculation) were also practiced. ...