So I’m having trouble with this, and I’ve went through different links on Google and can’t find an answer. So they would poke into sores of people who had smallpox and then proceed to cut the patient and insert the infection directly into them. I’m not understanding why catching small pox that way would be any different than catching it naturally?
I am specifically referring to how it was done during the revolutionary war, not today’s vaccines. But wouldn’t mind knowing how those two things differ as a bonus
In: Biology
[Kurzgesagt has a great video about smallpox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr57ax0OWMk), definitely worth your time if you’re curious about the disease. I think they even touch on the question you’re asking.
The gist of it was that typical smallpox infections start in the throat when you inhale droplets containing the virus. The virus is specialized for that kind of transmission, so infections starting in the throat are very deadly. Inoculations introduce the virus into a part of the body that it isn’t specialized for, which gives your immune system a much better chance of fighting back against it before the disease can really take hold
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