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#smallpox

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Probably worth remembering in the current febrile state of international politics that the USA and Russia are the only two countries that currently have viable smallpox (Variola) virus in storage.

The single most visible successful vaccination programme the world has ever seen ended with the two former superpowers of the USA and the Soviet Union holding on to their stored samples "for research".

Now, lunatics are in charge of both.

Aren't Internet rabbit holes a wonderful thing?

I'm reading a book by @KenLussey - 'Stockholm Run' which involves an outbreak of Smallpox in Glasgow in 1943 (amongst other fascinating historical insights).

This eventually led on to a discussion of why my wife and I were told (in no uncertain terms) to be vaccinated against Smallpox in 1973/4.
The answer relates to the last confirmed death of someone from the disease - a Medical Photographer named Janet Parker.
Her death led to dramatic changes to the way dangerous pathogens are managed in the UK.

Sacha and I were working in Pathology Laboratories at the time and were considered to be high risk of contracting Smallpox (which at 50 years distance seems truly bizarre)

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_s

#smallpox
#vaccines
#vaccination
#glasgow
#pathology

en.m.wikipedia.org1978 smallpox outbreak in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

1804 in Canada
More at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1804_in_

After failures, a #Gaspé justice of the peace experiments on children to show neighbours that cowpox inoculation protects against #smallpox; he treats newborns as well

numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoin
pgs. 5–6 (Note: first page of letter is difficult to read)
disponible en français

en.wikipedia.org1804 in Canada - Wikipedia

I'm the polar opposite of anti-vaxx. I'm a #VaxxtotheMax person.

I started nursing in the mid-70's & we were vaxxed for everything known to mankind. Felt a bit crook after the #smallpox but otherwise, not a problem.

Have had 7 #COVID19 vaxx without an issue (haven't had COVID as far as I know).

One #Shingles vaccine & 6 months to the day later, still suffering the side effects.

If you're considering #Shingrix please talk to your doc about side effects.

Voltaire on smallpox inoculation from Lettres Philosophiques, translated from French to English.

In short, Lady Wortley Montague brought the idea of inoculation to England after witnessing the Ottomans performing this procedure. The English tested this inoculation on prisoners before gaining royal approval. The Queen’s support led to its widespread adoption, which observed the practice preventing deaths and disfigurement. France resisted due to religious and medical opposition, though the Chinese had used a similar technique for centuries.

sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/17

sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/17

sourcebooks.fordham.eduInternet History Sourcebooks: Modern History

I'm gonna need ppl to understand that when they hear #endemic ... that is not a GOOD thing.
You do not want a pathogen continuously circulating in your area.
#Smallpox used to be endemic and it was BAD.
#Polio was endemic and it was BAD.
#TB was pandemic and in some parts of the world it still is, and that's BAD.
These are things I never thought I'd have to say before #Covid ... and needing to say them now is BAD.

Replied in thread

@cybeardjm

1/2
Thanks for posting this.
It makes some sense out of a scene setting line written about 2017/2018 by a British academic that had puzzled me but which I didn't follow up on, "Now that it has been established that colonialism was beneficial, ... ".

Being only patchily educated around the possible deliberation release of #SmallPox by the British military in #Sydney, knowing just little about Namibia and #Lebensraum, the 90% population reductions in USA & AU, ...

Replied in thread

@luckytran

The US is about to be more ignorant than people thousands of years ago.

"The ancient practice of variolation... consisted of transferring to healthy people small amounts of material from smallpox sores, resulting in milder forms of illness and much lower mortality than natural infection. Some sources suggest practices of variolation were taking place as early as 200 BCE."