{"id":9660,"date":"2024-10-14T11:00:32","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T09:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clinicapardinas.com\/isabel-zendal-smallpox-vacine\/"},"modified":"2024-10-14T11:00:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T09:00:32","slug":"isabel-zendal-smallpox-vacine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clinicapardinas.com\/en\/isabel-zendal-smallpox-vacine\/","title":{"rendered":"Isabel Zendal – A Galician nurse who made history"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 19th century, a time of lights and shadows, of scientific advances and terrible diseases, was also witness to\u00a0one of the greatest feats in the history of medicine<\/strong>: the Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition. This monumental mission aimed to eradicate smallpox in the territories of the Spanish Empire. However, behind the success of this mission is the figure of a brave woman forgotten by the books: Isabel Zendal, the Galician nurse who dedicated her life to caring for the most vulnerable and who played a crucial role in this medical crusade. Her heroic and tragic story in equal parts reveals how compassion and personal sacrifice can change the destiny of thousands of people.<\/p>\n

1) Childhood and youth of Isabel Zendal<\/h2>\n

Isabel Zendal G\u00f3mez\u00a0was born in 1773 in the parish of Santa Mar\u00eda de Parada, in Ordes, Galicia.<\/strong>. Life in rural Galicia in the 18th century was not easy; peasant families lived on the edge of subsistence and women, in particular, had to face the hard work of the home and the fields. In the midst of this harsh existence, Isabel grew up in a humble family, where she developed a sense of responsibility and deep compassion for others. Isabel’s biography, before her involvement in the expedition, is full of gaps, but it is known that, while still young, she moved to Coru\u00f1a, where she began to work at the Charity hospital, intended to welcome the poorest. and marginalized from society. There she worked first as a nurse and eventually as rector of the center in charge of caring for orphaned children. These experiences prepared her for the destiny that awaited her.<\/p>\n

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2) Smallpox, a devastating disease in the 18th century<\/h2>\n

Smallpox<\/a>\u00a0was one of humanity’s greatest enemies in the 18th century. This highly contagious disease made no distinctions, devastating entire cities with its pustules, very high fever and lethality. Throughout history, smallpox was responsible for several epidemics.\u00a0It caused approximately 400,000 deaths a year just in Europe<\/strong>, since its mortality rate could reach up to 30 %; those who survived were marked by disfiguring scars that for many were as terrible as the disease itself. Smallpox, which is caused by the Variola virus, was primarily transmitted by direct contact between people through respiratory droplets or by touching body fluids of an infected person. It could also be spread through contaminated objects such as bedding.<\/p>\n

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2a) Edward Jenner, the discoverer of the smallpox vaccine<\/h3>\n

At the end of the 17th century, the English doctor Edward Jenner\u00a0discovered that cowpox virus inoculation could protect people against human smallpox<\/strong>. To test his theory, dr. Jenner inoculated an eight-year-old boy named\u00a0James Phipps<\/a>\u00a0with material taken from the pustules of a woman infected with cowpox. He then exposed the child to human smallpox and he did not contract the disease, thus confirming the effectiveness of the vaccine. From that moment on, the word vaccine, which derives from the Latin cow, became popular to refer to this prevention technique.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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3) The Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition<\/h2>\n

News of this revolutionary discovery quickly reached Spain, where Charles IV, whose kingdom had been ravaged by disease,\u00a0ordered that an expedition be launched to bring the vaccine to the Americas and beyond<\/strong>. The mission would be known as the Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition and the man chosen to lead it was Francisco Javier Balm\u00eds, doctor of the Court. But he needed more than medical knowledge to meet this challenge. He needed logistics and, above all, he needed people willing to accompany him on a mission that would last years. And that is how Isabel, due to her experience in caring for children and her ability to manage a hospital, was recruited as the main nurse of the expedition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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3a) A chain of children<\/h3>\n

One of the biggest challenges the expedition faced was keeping the vaccine alive during long ship voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific. At that time, technology did not allow the vaccine to be stored in bottles for a long time and\u00a0the most effective method of transportation was to do so in human reservoirs.<\/strong>. This required children who had never been infected with smallpox to be able to inoculate the vaccine into one arm and transfer the pus from their newly formed wounds to another, thus creating a living chain of immunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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3b) Isabel Zendal’s role during the navigation<\/h3>\n

Twenty-two orphaned children participated in the expedition, almost all of them from the Foundling House of A Coru\u00f1a and it is at this point where the figure of Isabel Zendal becomes crucial. The Galician nurse’s job was not only to ensure that the vaccination chain remained intact,\u00a0but also to take care of these children, protecting them from the harsh conditions of the trip<\/strong> and giving them comfort when loneliness and fear became unbearable. In 1803, Isabel Zendal, along with Francisco Javier Balm\u00eds, the doctors who made up the team and the orphaned children, set sail from the port of A Coru\u00f1a on the ship Mar\u00eda Pita heading to Puerto Rico. Storms, disease, and long voyages on the high seas were constant challenges. The children suffered from dizziness and fever. Some cried at night, missing the home they had never known. For them, Isabel was more than a nurse: she was their protector, their mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n