Thursday, July 18, 2019

Did You Know

 

Did you know George Washington had his slaves and his men in the Revolutionary army vaccinated for smallpox? This was done by running a thread through the pustule then inserting it under the skin of the individual being inoculated.

26 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Great idea! Thanks for another interesting fact. Have a great day, Valerie

Elephant's Child said...

And what an excellent idea it was. I hope that he and his family were also innoculated.

Nasreen said...

Oh my, I wouldn't even think someone came up with this idea to do it!

Pat Hatt said...

Sure sounds like quite the way to do it.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

That was news to me. It was a very wise idea and sounds like it was one of the first health employee plans!

CJ Kennedy said...

That's interesting. I wonder what the success rate was for this procedure? How many contracted smallpox right away because of this? How many that underwent the procedure contracted smallpox anyway?

Jamie Ghione said...

OMG, no, I did not know any of this.

Jeanie said...

I did not! Thanks!

D.L. Finn said...

I had no idea! I always wonder about trying it on the first person. That's brave.

Sandra said...

My understanding was it was fairly successful. They would get mild symptoms of chickenpox then be over it.

Sandra said...

I was surprised to find that so much that I considered before their time, wasn't:)

Sandra said...

As much as he relied on it, it seems like he would, doesn't it?

Sandra said...

Amazing, isn't it, Nas?

Sandra Cox said...

Who'd a thought.

Sandra Cox said...

Sounds like it got the job done, doesn't it, Pat?

Sandra said...

Heh. Good one;)

Sandra said...

It was a stunner for me.

Sandra said...

Hey, Denise,
Right there with ya. I'm always wondering how people learned what plant cured what.

Susan Kane said...

Smallpox was so devastating, wiped out hundreds of people as it traveled from one to another.
Washington knew what he was doing!
Edward Jenner created the actual vaccination in 1790s. He tried it on his son, to show it was reasonably safe.

Birgit said...

Early way to combat this horrible disease but...ouch!

Adam said...

A new invention in his time.

Sandra Cox said...

Interesting. Did he vaccinate with an actual injection?

Sandra Cox said...

Yeah:)

Sandra Cox said...

Yes. An important one.

Janie Junebug said...

I did not know. That's a creative vaccine.

Love,
Janie

Magic Love Crow said...

That's amazing and so interesting! Big Hugs!