The smallpox vaccine was the first successful vaccine to be developed. The process of vaccination was first publicised by Edward Jenner in 1796, who acted upon his observation that milkmaids who caught the cowpox virus did not catch smallpox. Prior to widespread vaccination, mortality rates in individuals with smallpox were high—up to 35% in some cases.
Read more about Smallpox Vaccine: Pre-vaccination History, Early Vaccination, Eradication, Post-eradication Vaccination, HIV Protection, Vaccine Stockpiles
Famous quotes containing the word smallpox:
“The man who would change the name of Arkansas is the original, iron-jawed, brass-mouthed, copper-bellied corpse-maker from the wilds of the Ozarks! He is the man they call Sudden Death and General Desolation! Sired by a hurricane, dam’d by an earthquake, half-brother to the cholera, nearly related to the smallpox on his mother’s side!”
—Administration in the State of Arka, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)