Smallpox was a deadly viral infection that was common around 200 years ago. The virus spread like wildfire and killed many people.
The disease didn’t have any cure until Edward Jenner, a British surgeon, found out something strange. Jenner noticed that people who caught a similar but milder disease called cowpox were immune to smallpox. In 1796, he scratched a boy’s skin and applied fluid from a girl with cowpox. The boy later survived deliberate smallpox infection. This was the world’s first vaccine.
We were all given vaccines during different periods of our life; vaccination against diphtheria, chicken pox, TB and so on. Have you ever wondered why?
When our bodies are afflicted by certain viruses or foreign entities, it creates different antibodies to destroy the invaders. But serious infections can often overwhelm the system by the time the correct antibodies are produced.
It was found that advanced warning in the form of harmless vaccines helps to resolve this issue.
Picture Credit : Google