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Smallpox and the Vaccinia Vaccine

SMALLPOX AND THE VACCINIA VACCINE

Smallpox is an acute, contagious, and sometimes fatal disease caused by the variola virus, which is a member of the orthopoxvirus family. It has two forms: variola major and variola minor. Variola minor had a very low fatality rate, whereas the latter’s fatality rate was around thirty percent. The disease though, has now been eradicated after a worldwide vaccination program.
It is believed that smallpox originated over 3,000 years ago in India or Egypt and is one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity. In some ancient cultures, smallpox was such a major killer of infants that custom forbade the naming of a newborn until the infant had caught the disease and proved it would survive. The disease killed many kings, queens, and emperors. As many as thirty percent of those infected died and sixty-five to eighty percent of survivors were marked with deep pitted scars on their face. Blindness was also a complication reported...

Posted by: Jack Drewes

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