Francisco Javier de Balmis used children to keep smallpox vaccine fresh on journey to Spain’s colonies
When Francisco Javier de Balmis set off from Spain in 1803 to vaccinate the people in Spain’s colonies against smallpox he had no means of keeping the vaccine fresh, so he used children as his refrigerators.
An exhibition of documents relating to Balmis’s voyage has opened at the Archivo General de Indias in Seville and will be on display until 15 September.
