The 1878 Smallpox Epidemic and Buenos Aires' Vaccine War

In 1878, Buenos Aires confronted a smallpox epidemic that killed thousands and sparked a bitter public health battle over vaccination. This episode explores how the city's response under President Nicolás Avellaneda and the Society of Beneficence clashed with the antivaccination movement, leading to violent protests and a pivotal Supreme Court decision. We follow the work of doctors like José María Ramos Mejía and Eduardo Wilde, the role of the Casa de Aislamiento, and the legacy of the 1878 law that made vaccination compulsory. The episode also examines the deeper tensions between scientific authority, individual liberty, and popular suspicion in a city still recovering from the 1871 yellow fever outbreak. Through personal stories, political maneuvers, and the shadow of the Conquest of the Desert, we see how this forgotten crisis shaped Argentina's approach to public health and state power.

#Smallpox1878 #BuenosAires #VaccineHistory #NicolasAvellaneda #JoseMariaRamosMejia #EduardoWilde #Beneficencia #CasaDeAislamiento #Antivaccination #PublicHealth #ArgentinaHistory #1870s #ConquestOfTheDesert #Epidemic #MedicalHistory #ScarletFever #YellowFever #History #FexingoHistory

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