What is smallpox vaccine?
The smallpox vaccine is a live virus vaccine that helps the body develop immunity (antibodies) to smallpox virus. It contains vaccinia virus, which is closely related to, but a different virus than smallpox virus. The vaccine does not contain the smallpox virus, and cannot give you smallpox disease. The vaccine is the best way to prevent smallpox disease and death in someone who may be or has been exposed to the smallpox virus. The vaccine protects against smallpox even if given up to 3 days after exposure. In the United States, we stopped routine use of smallpox vaccine for all persons in 1972, except for certain laboratory workers and the military. The military stopped using the vaccine routinely in the mid 1980s. In most parts of the world, smallpox vaccinations ended by 1980. Immunity against smallpox decreases over time so that most Americans today would be susceptible to smallpox even if they were vaccinated as a child.
Smallpox is a serious, contagious, and sometimes fatal infection that is caused by a virus. Smallpox causes fever and a blistering skin rash. These blisters contain virus and can make the infected person highly contagious. Smallpox is spread from person to person through direct contact, or by coming into contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated objects such as clothing or bedding. A person with early symptoms of smallpox may or may not be contagious. Once the person forms a smallpox skin rash, the chance of spreading the disease increases until the last smallpox has scab fallen off. The smallpox vaccine contains live “vaccinia” virus (a virus similar to smallpox). For this reason, the vaccination site (the place on your skin where the vaccine is injected) will be contagious and can spread the virus to other parts of your body or to other people. The smallpox vaccine is not given as a routine vaccination to children or adults because the dedicated use of smallpox vaccine in t
