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How did Lady Mary Wortley Montagu help popularize variolation in England?
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smallpox
Edward Jenner vaccinating his child against smallpox; colored engraving.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu played a pivotal role in introducing variolation to England in 1721ā22. While living in the Ottoman Empire as the wife of the British ambassador, she observed the effectiveness of the procedureāa method of immunizing individuals against smallpox by infecting them with material from a mild case of the disease.12
Having personally suffered from a severe attack of smallpox as a young woman, she recognized the potential of this precaution and actively advocated for its adoption upon her return to England. Her efforts helped popularize the practice, which served as a precursor to modern immunization before being eventually replaced by Edward Jenner's safer cowpox inoculation method.13