{"id":10697,"date":"2023-06-15T17:38:20","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T22:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/?post_type=jtf_topics&#038;p=10697"},"modified":"2026-08-02T22:28:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T03:28:18","slug":"did-smallpox-vaccines-save-lives","status":"publish","type":"jtf_topics","link":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/jtf_topics\/did-smallpox-vaccines-save-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Did smallpox vaccines save lives?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row source=&#8221;&#8221; text=&#8221;Clinical Trials&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h2|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; google_fonts=&#8221;font_family:Abril%20Fatface%3Aregular|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal&#8221; link=&#8221;&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1708910874436{border-top-width: 1px !important;border-right-width: 1px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;The Claim:&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h3|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]For reasons we shall never understand,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stkirsch\/status\/1668145781394792449?cxt=HHwWgoDT2f_vuKYuAAAA\" rel=\"nofollow\">a computer engineer<\/a>\u00a0claims that smallpox vaccines never saved even a single life, and he is using a book published in 1889 as evidence.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;The Facts:&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h3|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]Smallpox is believed to have appeared around\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC1200696\/\">10,000 BCE.<\/a>\u00a0In the 12,000 years since, smallpox has had a devastating impact on humanity, killing millions. About\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnh.org\/explore\/science-topics\/disease-eradication\/countdown-to-zero\/smallpox\">300,000<\/a>\u00a0lives were lost worldwide in just the 77\u00a0years before its eradication<\/p>\n<p>American Revolutionary War figures, including\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VKKasVNRayU&amp;feature=youtu.be\">Thomas Jefferson<\/a>, prioritized the vaccination of their own families. Jefferson had his children vaccinated against smallpox, understanding the risks associated with the disease and the potential for vaccination to save lives.<\/p>\n<p>Inoculation, a precursor to vaccination, was a common practice during that time to combat smallpox. Inoculation involved deliberately infecting individuals with a mild form of smallpox to induce immunity.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TsVJ409UoYs&amp;feature=youtu.be\">George Washington<\/a>, for example, ordered the inoculation of his troops during the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. This proactive measure aimed to prevent outbreaks and reduce the severity of smallpox cases among his soldiers.<\/p>\n<p>In 1959, the WHO announced its goal of eradicating smallpox but had a rocky start. In\u00a01967, they started the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/biotech.law.lsu.edu\/blaw\/bt\/smallpox\/who\/red-book\/Chp%2010%20-%20421-442.pdf\">Intensified Eradication Program<\/a>,\u00a0 with better vaccines and new\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/vaccines\/ring-vaccination-overview\">tools<\/a>\u00a0to fight smallpox. One such tool was a system to track cases and large-scale vaccination campaigns. The last naturally-occurring case of smallpox was in 1977. Smallpox was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/smallpox\/about\/index.html\">eradicated<\/a>\u00a0from humans in 1980. It now only exists in a lab.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, we did not rely on an anti-vaccine book written in 1889 to guide our public health strategy.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smallpox vaccines saved countless lives by preventing the spread of a deadly disease, culminating in the global eradication of smallpox in 1980.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"parent":0,"template":"","jtf_topic_subjects":[420,218,373],"class_list":["post-10697","jtf_topics","type-jtf_topics","status-publish","hentry","jtf_topic_subjects-smallpox","jtf_topic_subjects-vaccine-safety","jtf_topic_subjects-world-health-organization-who","entry","no-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/10697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/jtf_topics"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/10697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17210,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/10697\/revisions\/17210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"jtf_topic_subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topic_subjects?post=10697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}