The nineteenth-century experience of the kingdom of the two Sicilies on mandatory vaccination: An Italian phenomenon?

The current health emergency caused by COVID-19 disease shows several similarities with well-known epidemics of the past. The knowledge of their management and overcoming could give us useful tools to face the present COVID-19 pandemic. The Bourbon king Ferdinand I planned the first free large-scale mass vaccination programme conducted in Italy and one of the first in Europe to counteract smallpox. The vaccination campaign was characterized by many difficulties and the efforts made by the Southern Kingdoms governors were enormous. For example, the “ante litteram communication campaign”, aimed at convincing the so-called “hesitant” people and at confuting the arguments of vaccination opponents, was impressive. In 1821, the compulsory vaccination significantly reduced smallpox infections and death rates. Subsequently, several experiences followed this initiative, not without doubts and debates. Smallpox was finally eradicated worldwide only on the 9th December 1979. Despite to other countries, the “mandatory vaccination” is a topic often debated by Italian scientific and social communities.