Academic Journal
Historical perspectives in medical humanities: two views on vaccination during the plague pandemic in Calcutta.
| Title: | Historical perspectives in medical humanities: two views on vaccination during the plague pandemic in Calcutta. |
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| Authors: | Bose U; Faculty of History, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. utsa.bose@some.ox.ac.uk. |
| Source: | Monash bioethics review [Monash Bioeth Rev] 2026 Aug; Vol. 44 (Suppl 1), pp. 52-74. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Jun 03. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article; Historical Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 100973394 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1836-6716 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 13212753 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Monash Bioeth Rev Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: 2014- : New York : Springer Original Publication: Vic. [i.e. Victoria], Australia : Centre for Human Bioethics, Monash University |
| MeSH Terms: | Plague*/prevention & control , Plague*/history , Plague*/epidemiology , Vaccination*/history , Vaccination*/ethics , Plague Vaccine*/history , Pandemics*/history , Pandemics*/prevention & control , Humanities*/history, Humans ; India ; History, 20th Century ; History, 19th Century |
| Abstract: | The aim of this article is to complicate and rethink histories of non-Western responses to vaccination, as well as to see how a historical perspective may contribute to contemporary discussions of vaccines within the medical humanities. This is done through a case study approach. The focus of this article is a collection of essays written by a Bengali prophet-astrologer and published during the plague pandemic in Calcutta, British India, at the turn of the twentieth century (1899). While one essay in the collection was critical of the plague vaccine, another essay, in a later section of the same collection, celebrated the vaccine and its developer Waldemar M. Haffkine. The first part of the article situates the context of the text's production, as well as the background of the author. In the second part, it analyses the reasons why the plague vaccine was criticised. In the third part, it looks at how the author celebrated the plague vaccine in a later section of the collection. In the fourth section, it attempts to answer why the astrologer changed his view on vaccination. Finally, in the conclusion, it discusses how this case study intervenes historiographically, and how certain themes raised by the source persist today, reiterating the importance of a historical perspective. (© 2025. The Author(s).) |
| Competing Interests: | Declarations. Conflict of interest: The author has no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Ethical approval: No relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. |
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| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Bioethics; History; Medical humanities; Pandemic; South Asia; Vaccine; Vaccine hesitancy |
| Substance Nomenclature: | 0 (Plague Vaccine) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20250603 Date Completed: 20260829 Latest Revision: 20260901 |
| Update Code: | 20260901 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13526061 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s40592-025-00251-4 |
| PMID: | 40461869 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1836-6716 |
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| DOI: | 10.1007/s40592-025-00251-4 |