Smallpox vaccination: This is where the scar on the upper arm of many 50-year-olds comes from

Created: 05/24/2022, 13:20

By: Stella Henrich

The older ones will surely remember their smallpox vaccination as a child.

Recognizable as a circular scar on the upper arm.

For some it remains a dramatic childhood experience to this day.

Munich – The doctor stood next to the little patients with the vaccination pistol and shot them in the upper arm.

A “planned” infection then developed at the point where the bullet was scratched.

The skin formed a pustule - resulting in a round scar.

It can often still be seen on the upper arm of many people over the age of 50.

The scar is reminiscent of the successful fight against smallpox.

Vaccination was considered the only way to stop the spread of smallpox.

Due to the outbreak of the first cases of monkeypox in Germany, vaccination against smallpox is once again a topic of conversation.

Smallpox viruses: Outbreaks in Europe up until the 1960s

In the 1950s and 1960s there were serious smallpox outbreaks in Europe, which were triggered by orthopoxviruses.

The patients suffered from severe fever and chills, and their entire bodies were covered with pus-filled blisters.

Smallpox could hardly be treated, only its symptoms could be alleviated thanks to good medical care.

Not infrequently, smallpox was even fatal.

According to the medical journal, by the end of the 18th century, up to ten percent of all small children died from smallpox.

This is what a typical pockmark looks like that many older people usually have on their upper arm thanks to a vaccination.

(Iconic image) © fotototo xBlickwinkel/imago

The disease is now considered eradicated.

In May 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced the eradication of the smallpox virus.

In the 20th century alone, around 300 million people are said to have died from the deadly infectious disease.

The pathogen spread - similar to the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus - via a droplet infection, for example when coughing from person to person.

The infection could also happen through inhaling dust, for example when shaking out clothes or blankets from smallpox patients. 

Eradication of smallpox through vaccination

• In the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the Federal Republic of Germany, vaccinations were still mandatory (albeit in a weaker form).

• The last case of smallpox in Germany was in 1972. A guest worker from Yugoslavia brought the disease with him.

  
  
  

  In 1976, the German government withdrew the requirement for smallpox vaccination.

  In May 1980, the WHO was able to announce the eradication of smallpox, after 1977 the last documented case was said to have occurred in Somalia.

  
  
  

  Source: Focus.de

Smallpox viruses: compulsory vaccination curbed virus disease

The global smallpox vaccination requirement showed its effect by the end of the 1960s, so that the smallpox vaccination requirement in West Germany in 1976 and in the GDR in 1982 could be lifted - after that mostly only repeat vaccinations were carried out.

Even today, historical vaccination certificates document the fight against smallpox.

People in Bavaria were particularly progressive - as a document from 1822 shows.

At that time, Bavaria was the first country in the world to introduce compulsory vaccination against smallpox.

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Similarly in the case of smallpox, the currently spreading monkeypox virus can also be transmitted from person to person (live press conference).

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach therefore wants to work out a recommendation for isolation and quarantine in coordination with the Robert Koch Institute for Germany.

Vaccination recommendations for people who are particularly at risk are also being considered.

According to Lauterbach, he has already contacted a manufacturer who makes vaccines specifically for monkeypox.

The RKI currently recommends isolating sick people for 21 days.