When Dr William Foege died earlier this month, the world mourned the loss of a scientist who helped rid humanity of a virus that had plagued the Earth for thousands of years.

Although the world’s first vaccine, for smallpox, was a wonderful invention, it would be an error to assume that smallpox would still be with us if the vaccine had not been invented. In fact, ...

In the early 1800s, Denmark’s government, medical community, church leaders and school teachers all united to promote the new smallpox vaccine, which led to a remarkably quick elimination of the disea ...

During the Revolutionary War, more American soldiers died from disease than from musket shot. One out of every three soldiers infected with smallpox died. In the cramped conditions of military ...

William Foege, who has died aged 89, was the epidemiologist responsible for devising a successful vaccination strategy in the ...