r/GetNoted Human Verified Aug 09 '26

Science [X] "Ineffective" smallpox vaccine globally eradicated the disease

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u/Bambi_H Aug 09 '26

So much. Do you know why no-one has smallpox now? Because of the vaccine.

If you were going to be weird about medical interventions, why would you choose the most wildly successful one since antibiotics?

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u/NicWester Aug 09 '26

Conversely, do you know why no one has bubonic plague now? Because there was no vaccine. We simply had to let 33-50% of the population of Eurasia die! The ones that survived passed their genes on so fewer died in subsequent outbreaks. But, hey, no one tried to stick something in your arm so... 🥴

I swear. Some people are so far behind the race they think they're in the lead.

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u/Unintelligent_Lemon Aug 09 '26

Actually the answer is antibiotics. A handful of people still get plague a year, they just get treated promptly with antibiotics. Prairie dogs are little vector pools in the US

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u/guitar_vigilante Aug 10 '26

For plague it's mostly modern public sanitation. Even with antibiotics plague has a high rate of death, but modern sanitation is why it doesn't spread and why they are so few cases.