SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC IN FARMINGTON
By: Karen Ru
ABOUT
The first smallpox immunization started in 1721. Practice for wealthier people was common in 1770. Only a few people were allowed to give variolation and would be fined if they performed it without permission. Farmington licensed doctors Eli Todd and Theodore Wadsworth to open a smallpox inoculation hospital near the Southington town line June 1792. Soon, towns authorized smallpox vaccinations by school district in the early 1800's after Edward Jenner invented the vaccine. The rapid spread of the new vaccination Edward Jenner created caused additional advertisements to cease in the Connecticut Courant after 1801.
Smallpox Variolation
The Todd-Wadsworth Smallpox Hospital was open from 1792-1794, before Edward Jenner discovered the vaccination to smallpox. Even in the short period of operation, the smallpox hospital managed to save lives of hundreds of people in the Connecticut area.
A variolation is different than a vaccine because a variolation uses live smallpox viruses, while a vaccination uses a far less dangerous virus. The smallpox variolation was a medical procedure that was done by incising the patient's arm, placing a thread covered with live smallpox viruses and dragging it across the incision. This forced the body to attack the virus while only receiving minor symptoms. The variolation could also be done in the form of dried ous or scabs. The wealtheir people could inhale smallpox pus and dried scabs that was imported from England if they didn't want a scar. Inhalation was also safer because the victim will not have a chance to be infected by the incision. Patients gained immunity for many years after the variolation. It was done from fall to no later than May 12th the next spring.