ВАКЦИНАЦИЈА ПРОТИВ ВЕЛИКИХ БОГИЊА И АНТИВАКЦИНАЛНИ ПОКРЕТИ У 19. ВЕКУ – КРАТАК ОСВРТ
VACCINATION AGAINST SMALLPOX AND ANTI-VACCINATION MOVEMENTS IN THE 19TH CENTURY – A BRIEF OVERVIEW

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents a brief overview of the achievements of population immunization against smallpox in the 19th century with the most important anti-vaccine movements. Along with the invention of the vaccine, a strong anti-vaccination movement developed. The anti-vaccine movement had its greatest rise during the second half of the 19th century in almost all European countries. The strongest was in Great Britain, where entire anti-vaccination leagues were formed. Frequent „wars“ in the press for and against the vaccine were part of the everyday life of the common man. We tried to answer the questions about the success of the anti-vaccination movement, when compulsory immunization was introduced, how vaccines saved a large part of the population, and what were the arguments of one or the other side. We can state that the anti-vaccine movement has remained constant during the previous two centuries. It encompassed a wide range of individuals, from a few who cited various conspiracy theories, to those who had more convincing explanations for their beliefs. Vaccination certainly represents a great revolution in the modern medicine, provoked fierce opposition, which continues to this day. This raises a difficult question, how should the authorities approach to the anti-vaccination movement? The passive reaction certainly endangered and endangers collective health, while a harsher approach endangers the values of individual freedoms and individual personal rights. These issues survive even today and cannot be completely resolved exclusively by force, but by dialogue and awareness of the wider masses of the population.

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