Your smallpox shot left you with a small, round scar on your upper arm.
Before the 1970s, a lot of people got this smallpox shot.
Live Vaccinia virus was used to make an immune reaction that would protect people from the harmful Variola virus that caused smallpox.
After getting a shot, blisters form at the injection site. These blisters crust over and heal in a few weeks.
At the end, there is a round scar.
To give the vaccine, a split needle was put into the Vaccinia solution and pushed into the person’s arm several times.
A small amount of the vaccine was put on each time the needle went through the skin, and blisters formed. This is the reason why the scars are so obvious.
The area where the shot was given swells a little right away and for 6 to 8 hours afterward.
The edema goes away after that, and the injection spot looks fine. A bump that looks like a mosquito bite comes back after 6 to 8 weeks.
It starts to get bigger and turns into a tumor. Eventually, it breaks open, leaks fluid, and turns into an ulcer.
As the sore heals, a scar forms.
It takes between two and five weeks to finish.
The ulceration and mending process can happen twice or three times.
The scar it left behind will never go away.
Smallpox was wiped out in most of the Western world after the early 1970s. Unless someone was going to a place where the virus was still active, they did not need to get vaccinated.
It leaves a scar as it heals.
The process takes between two and five weeks to finish.
There may be two or three times when the ulcers form and heal.
The scar that forms is permanent.
After the early 1970s, smallpox was mostly gone from the Western world. Unless someone was going to a place where the virus was still active, they did not need to get vaccinated.
The area where the shot was given swells a little right away and for 6 to 8 hours afterward.
The edema goes away after that, and the injection spot looks fine. A bump that looks like a mosquito bite comes back after 6 to 8 weeks.
It starts to get bigger and turns into a tumor. Eventually, it breaks open, leaks fluid, and turns into an ulcer.
As the sore heals, a scar forms.
It takes between two and five weeks to finish.
The ulceration and mending process can happen twice or three times.
The scar it left behind will never go away.
Smallpox was wiped out in most of the Western world after the early 1970s. Unless someone was going to a place where the virus was still active, they did not need to get vaccinated.
