A descontinuação da vacinação de rotina contra a varíola nos Estados Unidos, 1960-1976: Uma afirmação improvável da hegemonia biomédica

Translated title of the contribution: The discontinuation of routine smallpox vaccination in the United States, 1960-1976: An unlikely affirmation of biomedical hegemony

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article seeks to understand the discursive context of the cessation of routine smallpox vaccination in the United States in the early 1970s. The United States has a long tradition of opposition to compulsory smallpox vaccination, usually expressed in terms of concerns about personal liberties, the extent of state authority, and challenges to the hegemony of orthodox biomedicine. The practice of routine smallpox vaccination continued in the United States until its termination in the 1970s, following a 1971 recommendation against the practice issued by the United States Public Health Service. This history investigates the ways in which opposition to compulsory smallpox vaccination in the 1960s and 70s was articulated and understood by contemporaries through an analysis of the rhetoric used in leading medical journals and popular newspapers. It finds that this ultimately successful movement to end routine smallpox vaccination drew upon the language of biomedical authority rather than political protest.

Translated title of the contributionThe discontinuation of routine smallpox vaccination in the United States, 1960-1976: An unlikely affirmation of biomedical hegemony
Original languagePortuguese
Pages (from-to)471-477
Number of pages7
JournalCiencia e Saude Coletiva
Volume16
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Anti-vaccination movements
  • History
  • Smallpox
  • United States
  • Vaccination

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health Policy
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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