4. Smallpox
Thank goodness, smallpox has been fully eradicated thanks to vaccine, so we don’t hear about it anymore. However, it used to be one of the most deadly illnesses for people! Its symptoms, which included fever, vomiting, skin rashes, and blisters, were brought on by the Variola virus.
Although it has been present for generations and we don’t know where it came from, the first significant epidemics were in 18th-century Europe.
Although ancient Chinese and Indians attempted to utilize various techniques to immunize against smallpox (such as pressing diseased scabs or fluid into scratches made on a healthy patient in the hopes of establishing immunity!) Edward Jenner created the first iteration of what we now refer to as a vaccination only in 1798.
Around 500 million people died from smallpox in just the 20th century alone, and the development of this vaccine has made a significant contribution to the fight against the illness.
