Robert Hicks, College of Physicians
Community College of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
The Confederate southern states experienced several smallpox epidemics during the American Civil War, blaming the disease on the Union northern states. Confederate doctors responded by vaccinating soldiers but then discovered that some vaccinations were ineffective (“spurious”) and instead spread other diseases, particularly syphilis. This presentation considers how the Confederacy managed vaccinations and tried to solve the numerous spurious cases. His illustrated tale includes the deliberate infection of children on plantations as a source of vaccine, and allegations of vaccination poisoning in the conflict’s only war crimes trial. In a surprising convergence of history, a museum collection, and current disease research, a detective story concludes the presentation!
Dr. David Cattell, Chairman of the Physics Department of Community College of Philadelphia hosts meetings of PhACT at 2:00 PM on the third Saturday of most months at Community College of Philadelphia. Parking is easily available and costs $4.00 for all day. Enter the college parking garage on 17th Street which is one way south bound. It opens at 1:00 PM and closes at 6:00 PM. This meeting site is handicap accessible. PhACT Meetings are Free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Please try to arrive a few minutes early as the College now requires that meeting attendees sign in for security reasons. ID must be shown.
This talk is FREE and open to the public.