I remember seeing a noticeable scar on my mom’s arm when I was little. It’s located near her shoulder and looks like a circle of tiny dents around a bigger one in her skin.
Don’t ask me why that specifically attracted my attention all those years ago; I don’t remember. I recall only that it did, but as is so often the case, I sort of forgot it existed over the following years.
I definitely didn’t forget that it was there (it’s still in the same spot as always), but I totally forgot that I used to be really curious about what made it. Maybe I asked my mom about it once, and she told me, but if she did, I can’t remember that either.
Then, a few summers ago, I helped an older lady get off a train, and I noticed she had the same scar in the same spot as my mom’s. I was really interested, but since the train was about to leave, I couldn’t ask her where her scar came from.
So, I called my mom, and she told me that she had actually explained it to me more than once. Apparently, my brain just didn’t think it was important enough to remember! She said her scar was from the well-known smallpox vaccine.
Smallpox is a viral, infectious disease that once terrorized us humans. It causes a significant skin rash and fever, and during the most rampant outbreaks in the 20th century, killed an estimated 3 out of 10 victims according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many other sufferers were left disfigured.
Because of the successful and widespread use of the smallpox vaccine, the virus was declared “extinct” in the United States in 1952. By 1972, smallpox vaccines were no longer given as part of regular vaccinations.
Before the early 1970s, every child received the smallpox vaccine, which left a noticeable mark on their arms. You could think of it as an early version of a vaccine passport—a scar that showed you had been vaccinated against smallpox.
And yes, that scar is something my mom has, just like almost everyone else her age.
Why did the smallpox vaccine scar?
The smallpox vaccine caused scars due to the body’s healing process. The vaccine itself was delivered in a rather different way to many other vaccines given today, using a special two-pronged needle.
The person giving the vaccine used several tiny needles to poke the skin instead of just one like with most vaccines today. This was done to get the vaccine into the dermis, which is the layer right under the outer skin.
Once the virus in the vaccine started working, it began to multiply, leading to the formation of small round bumps. These bumps eventually turned into vesicles, which are little blisters filled with fluid. Over time, these blisters would pop and then form scabs.
In the end, this process leaves behind the well-known scar we’ve mentioned in this article.
Are you old enough to have a scar from the smallpox vaccine? Let us know in the comments!
