this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2025
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[–] Justas@sh.itjust.works 144 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Tbh milkmaids were the prettiest women because they would get mild cases of cowpox instead of skin wrecking smallpox and it was the origin of the smallpox vaccine (vacca means cow in latin).

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 58 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

And they had to be clean, so washed daily, and were always inside, in a very clean environment.

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 35 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

You are a milkmaid?

Edit: My joke was based on a corrected typo, "we're". IDGAF about online typos unless they have a humorous aspect. Cheers!

[–] CluckN@lemmy.world 26 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Huh I didn’t know humans could get mild cowpox

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 53 points 1 month ago (1 children)

A great many pathogens can be "weakened" with various processes, heat is one, but also the surviving strains in a living being that beat the disease via immunity may also carry weakened strains and this is where we learned to deliberately contract smallpox via poking someone's skin pustule and poking ourselves with that pus.

Gross but highly effective. This is how George Washington inoculated his army. (Which of course he learned about through a Reverend in Boston who learned about it from his slave, Onesimus, which makes sense as smallpox was ravaging Africa for over 10,000 years, they figured it out eventually.)

[–] Batmancer@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 month ago

Thank you so much for sharing this interesting information.

[–] LillyPip@lemmy.ca 27 points 1 month ago

Yes, it’s super interesting. The reason the word ‘vaccine’ derives from the Latin ‘vacca’ (cow) was because we observed that people who contracted the cowpox gained some protection from smallpox. We investigated that connection, did a bunch of testing and research (which included early scientists infecting themselves on purpose in some rather gross ways), and developed the theory of vaccines.

The history of early modern medicine is very cool.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Same, I get it a couple of times a year, and it's only ever extremely severe. I would love to know the secret.