Il primo Stato a decretare l’obbligatorietà vaccinale contro il vaiolo:

il Principato di Lucca e Piombino (1806)

Abstract

Vaccination practices represent a fundamental achievement of modern medicine and have made it possible to eradicate once devastating and deadly pathologies. Thanks to vaccines, diseases that in the past caused millions of deaths and serious disabilities have been completely eliminated such smallpox, or almost, such as polio and diphtheria, so much so that we have almost forgotten them. Too often today we take vaccines for granted, paradoxically because they are victims of their own success. Immunization practices and the use of vaccines from the very beginning have created an infinity of controversies: vaccination hesitation, declared opposition for possible complications, fake news, mandato-ry vaccination are topics that are still current today. As a paradigmatic model of many diatribes, what has happened over time with regard to immunization against smallpox can be considered. The history of vaccinations constitutes a fascinating and extraordinary chapter of scientific progress, a chapter in which the Principality of Lucca and Piombino wrote an important page. It was, in fact, the first state in the world to decree the mandatory vaccination against smallpox in 1806, only seven years after Edward Jenner discovery. A reflection on the subject can be useful for interpreting many contemporary dinamics.