• Agent641@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    “Smallpox scabs, do not smoke”

    That’ll keep Dennis away from my sweet, sweet smallpox scabs!

    • bedwyr@piefed.ca
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      12 days ago

      One of the original prventatives for smallpox, the type of variolation that reached Europe from Asia and Africa, was to crush old blisters into a powder, and sniff up a line of it.

      Variolation is giving a small dose to allow the immune system time to get trained on it before it gets critical.