{"id":14893,"date":"2025-08-07T22:04:41","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T03:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/?post_type=jtf_topics&p=14893"},"modified":"2025-08-29T22:09:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T03:09:38","slug":"did-vaccines-eradicate-smallpox","status":"publish","type":"jtf_topics","link":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/jtf_topics\/did-vaccines-eradicate-smallpox\/","title":{"rendered":"Did vaccines eradicate smallpox?"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row source=”” text=”Clinical Trials” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” google_fonts=”font_family:Abril%20Fatface%3Aregular|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” link=”” css=”.vc_custom_1708910874436{border-top-width: 1px !important;border-right-width: 1px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”The Claim:” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text css=””]Because this “Midwestern Doctor<\/a>” says they didn’t. And he thinks we should take that lesson and learn something about today’s vaccines.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”The Facts:” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text css=””]Smallpox is believed to have appeared around\u00a010,000 BCE.<\/a>\u00a0In the 12,000 years since, smallpox has had a devastating impact on humanity, killing millions. About\u00a0300,000<\/a>\u00a0lives were lost worldwide in just the 77\u00a0years before its eradication<\/p>\n

American Revolutionary War figures, including\u00a0Thomas 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

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.\u00a0George 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

In 1959, the WHO announced its goal of eradicating smallpox, but it had a rocky start. In\u00a01967, they started the\u00a0Intensified Eradication Program<\/a>,\u00a0 with better vaccines and new\u00a0tools<\/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\u00a0eradicated<\/a>\u00a0from humans in 1980. It now only exists in a lab.<\/p>\n

Funny that a disease more than 12,000 years old disappeared within 10 years of the intensified eradication program if vaccines were never shown to work.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite what critics claim, vaccines did eradicate smallpox. Here’s how centuries of science\u2014and a global effort\u2014defeated a 12,000-year-old killer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"parent":0,"template":"","jtf_topic_subjects":[218],"class_list":["post-14893","jtf_topics","type-jtf_topics","status-publish","hentry","jtf_topic_subjects-vaccine-safety","entry","no-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/14893","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":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/14893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14899,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/14893\/revisions\/14899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"jtf_topic_subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topic_subjects?post=14893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}