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Really? The article says the boy was infected with smallpox after being exposed to cowpox to test whether or not exposure to cowpox would help: > > He tested t
by craftyguy 8y ago
Really? The article says the boy was infected with smallpox after being exposed to cowpox to test whether or not exposure to cowpox would help:
> > He tested this by infecting the boy with smallpox and no illness occurred.
- jkabrg 8y agoThe wording is misleading. For the following reasons: - Variolation was common in England at the time. - Wikipedia says that he *inoculated* the boy with smallpox. That means variolation.
- sg0 8y agoIndeed it was misleading. "The basis for vaccination began in 1796 when an English doctor named Edward Jenner observed that milkmaids who had gotten cowpox did not show any symptoms of smallpox after variolation. The first experiment to test this theory involved milkmaid Sarah Nelmes and James Phipps, the 9 year-old son of Jenner’s gardener. Dr. Jenner took material from a cowpox sore on Nelmes’ hand and inoculated it into Phipps’ arm. Months later, Jenner exposed Phipps a number of times to variola virus, but Phipps never developed smallpox." from https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html