Claudia Agostoni

Médicos ecuestres, el arte de curar y los galenos en la historia nacional (Ciudad de México, 1877-1911)

The uncertainty and mistrust towards the presence and activities of academic medical practitioners in Mexico City during the Porfirio Díaz government (1877-1911) convinced these professionals that is was essential to create, strengthen and transmit a respectable, competent and homogeneous image of the profession. To this purpose they recovered, recreated and adapted the ethical maxims of the occidental medical culture to their professional work, and rescued eminent medical figures of Mexicos convulse nineteenth century from being lost in the oblivion of history. Their goal - as it will be expounded in the following pages - was to respond, oppose and neutralize the criticism and disbelief expressed by the public against their professional performance.

Control, contención y educación higiénica en las campañas de vacunación contra la viruela en México durante la década de 1940

This article examines some of the changes that the Mexican vaccination programs underwent starting in 1943, the year when the National Smallpox Campaign (Campana Nacional contra la Viruela) was established. It analyzes why a uniform and coordinated vaccination method was adopted to counter the outbreaks of this endemic disease, especially in central Mexico; the actions of its numerous and heterogeneous staff; and the reasons why smallpox vaccination was considered critical to establish a culture of prevention. In summary, the article examines why selective vaccination was chosen and the expansion of the health-education programs, topics that have been seldom addressed in historical research.This article examines some of the changes that the Mexican vaccination programs underwent starting in 1943, the year when the National Smallpox Campaign (Campaña Nacional contra la Viruela) was established. It analyzes why a uniform and coordinated vaccination method was adopted to counter the outbreaks of this endemic disease, especially in central Mexico; the actions of its numerous and heterogeneous staff; and the reasons why smallpox vaccination was considered critical to establish a culture of prevention. In summary, the article examines why selective vaccination was chosen and the expansion of the health-education programs, topics that have been seldom addressed in historical research.

Estrategias, actores, promesas y temores en las campañas de vacunación antivariolosa en México: del Porfiriato a la Posrevolución (1880-1940)

The article examines some of the strategies employed by the Mexican health authorities that led to the organization of massive and obligatory smallpox vaccination campaigns from the late 1880s to the 1940s, a period of Mexican history that corresponds to the Porfirio Diaz regime (1877-1911), to the armed phase of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), and to the first two decades of the Post-revolutionary governments (1920-1940). Attention will be placed of the vaccination programs in the main urban settings, notably in Mexico City, as well as the gradual but decisive organization and regulation of vaccination campaigns in the heterogeneous rural milieu. Furthermore, the importance that hygienic education acquired will be explored, as well as the divergent and contested responses that emerged due to the obligatory vaccination campaigns, responses that included resistance, fear, uncertainty and widespread acceptance.

Médicos Rurales y Brigadas de Vacunación en la Lucha Contra la Viruela en el México Posrevolucionario, 1920–1940

Resumen Este trabajo examina la importancia de la salud pública como elemento clave en la formación del Estado en México después de la Revolución de 1910–1920. Lo hace por medio de un análisis de las campañas para vacunar contra la variola organizadas en el México rural de la década de 1920 hasta el decenio de 1940. Propone que la contención de la variola y la promoción de una cultura de higiene fueron aspectos básicos de la expansión y la consolidación del Estado posrevolucionario. Además, el trabajo analiza los distintos tipos de trabajadores de salud, estudiantes de medicina y técnicos que se incorporaron a los esfuerzos de vacunación liderados por el Estado, y la reorientación de los agendas revolucionarios en salud, así como la manera en que los agentes de salud y las brigadas de vacunación administraron el método preventivo en una escala masiva en todo el país.