The Pros And Cons Of Smallpox Inoculation

Smallpox inoculation was an early method of preventing smallpox by giving a patient a minor case of it, which then gave them immunity for the rest of their life. Giving a patient a minor case of smallpox was done by taking a small amount of matter from the pustules of a patient infected with smallpox and putting it into their skin. Inoculation was an earlier, less safe treatment that started before vaccination became common practice. It had pros and cons, and many people at the time were against it while others were not. Pros of inoculation include the possibility of being immune to the disease and the reduced risk of death. If a patient did not die from the inoculation, then they would get immunity for the rest of their life, which was the ideal outcome. Inoculation had a reduced risk of death compared to if people caught smallpox naturally. The chances of dying from inoculation were about one out of fifty, or about a two percent chance (Powerpoint Presentation). Without getting inoculation, the chances of dying were estimated to be about one out of seven or eight, or about a twelve to

The chances of death from inoculation were much lower than if people caught it naturally; however, people opposed inoculation, since it still wasn’t fully safe. Inoculation posed ethical problems to many people at the time because there was a chance that someone who got inoculated and died may never have caught smallpox naturally if they had been left alone. People who got inoculated could also still spread the disease naturally, so by intentionally giving people the disease, others who did not get inoculated had a higher chance of getting smallpox. This also posed ethical unease, as they were increasing the chance that people who did not feel comfortable being inoculated would die from catching the disease from those who were getting