As a child, I noticed a strange scar high on my mother\u2019s arm but forgot about it over the years. That curiosity returned when I saw the exact same scar on an elderly woman\u2019s arm. When I asked my mother, she explained it came from the smallpox vaccine.<\/p>\n
Before the 1970s, all children were vaccinated against smallpox, and the vaccine left a distinctive scar. Smallpox was a deadly disease, killing about 3 in 10 infected people, but widespread vaccination led to its eradication in the U.S. by 1952.<\/p>\n
The scar formed because the vaccine was given using a two-pronged needle that punctured the skin multiple times, creating blisters that healed into a permanent mark.<\/p>\n As a child, I noticed a strange scar high on my mother\u2019s arm but forgot about it over the years. That curiosity returned when I saw the exact same scar on an elderly woman\u2019s arm. When I asked my mother, she explained it came from the smallpox vaccine. Before the 1970s, all children were vaccinated…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/11\/20090253\/shutterstock_2160343847-scaled.jpg\")
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