The Smallpox in the Baja California Peninsula, 1844; Effects, Institutional Responses, and Public Health Practices.

Abstract

The text analyzes the smallpox epidemic that affected the Partido Sur of Baja California, Mexico, in 1844, particularly the towns of La Paz, Loreto, and Comondú. From a demographic and historical perspective, the study reconstructs the outbreak and exposes the fragility of the nineteenth-century health system, the improvised institutional responses, and social resistance to vaccination. Despite documentary limitations, data triangulation allows us to outline the spread, its consequences, and the political and social context that shaped the management of the outbreak. The study provides evidence of the structural nature of epidemics in the region and reinforces the need to incorporate regional experiences into the national historiography on public health