Baoer remembered that the smallpox vaccination in the Qing Dynasty seemed to be against human smallpox.
I heard that this is a vaccine planting method to prevent smallpox that the current emperor specially found.
I remember Baoer saw a news story in his previous life. It was about Emperor Kangxi, who had just ascended the throne a few years ago.
A smallpox epidemic broke out among the people, causing a large number of children to become infected and die. To combat the epidemic, Emperor Kangxi employed smallpox vaccination and conducted human experiments on numerous individuals. Thirty palace maids were used in the experiment, four of whom died due to vaccination failures, representing a risk of four deaths out of 30. However, Emperor Kangxi was deeply afraid of smallpox. After all, he himself had contracted smallpox and was abandoned by his own father, the Emperor. In the end, his father also died of smallpox.
So he promoted this method and vaccinated his own children as well.
Despite the exemplary role played by Emperor Kangxi and his sons, smallpox vaccination was not widespread among the people. Although effective, it was also risky and therefore not immediately adopted nationwide.
In addition, due to the limitations of medical resources at the time and different levels of people's acceptance of new treatments, the development of smallpox vaccination among the people was a gradual process.
In general, although the phenomenon of smallpox vaccination among the people gradually increased during the Kangxi period, it was still a relatively new medical practice and its popularity was limited.
Then I thought that everyone was afraid of death, and only the royal princesses and princes were vaccinated against smallpox with the strong support of the current emperor.
People in the community were afraid of dying from smallpox vaccination, so many people did not get it.
Then I thought of the modern method of vaccinating against smallpox, which is safe, and if the experiment is successful and promoted by the emperor, it would be a great merit. Thinking of Baoer, my breathing became a little rapid.
After thinking about it, Baoer asked the two people opposite him excitedly, "Have you two been vaccinated?"
Nian Gengyao shook his head and said, "Because the risk of vaccination is quite high, none of my brothers or sisters have been vaccinated. Besides, our family is a Han army banner, so although we are afraid of smallpox, we don't take it seriously at all."
Qingheng didn't know why Baoer asked this, so he answered honestly, "All the brothers in my family got vaccinated when they reached a certain age."
After all, my father and uncle are the emperor's uncles, so they mostly support the emperor's decrees.
He even recalled that a cousin of his from his uncle's family had his own child vaccinated when he was old enough because his uncle and his father supported the emperor's vaccination. However, his cousin was too young to withstand the smallpox virus and died.
Baoer knew what was going on when she heard this. She looked at the two of them and asked tentatively, "What if there is a safer and less risky vaccination method, would you be willing to try it?"
Nian Gengyao and Qingheng understood what Bao'er meant. They looked at each other, and Nian Gengyao asked excitedly, "Bao'er, do you mean that you have such a method or that you know a safer way to vaccinate?"
This is smallpox. How many lives have been lost every time there has been an outbreak of the smallpox virus?
Qing Heng on the side was also extremely excited. You know, as a Manchu, he was afraid of smallpox in his bones.
If Baoer really has this method and it is promoted, how many lives can be saved?
And if this is true, the emperor will definitely confer a title on Baoer.
You know, although there are not many women who are granted titles in this world, there are still quite a few.
Baoer nodded repeatedly. "I once stumbled upon an interesting story in a travel book. It was about an author who was traveling and stumbled into a village. There was no inn there, so he found a kind family to stay with him."
"Who would have thought that the youngest son of that family, who was herding cattle, would come back home in the middle of the night with red papules on his body, accompanied by a fever and other symptoms. And this author, who has some medical background, could tell at a glance that the child had smallpox."
"He was even thinking about finding a doctor for the family, but they said, 'We're farmers, so it's not a serious problem, so there's no need to call a doctor.' They also said their child didn't have smallpox, but cowpox. Finally, the author asked why, and the family said their cow had cowpox, and the child had accidentally injured his hand while herding cattle two days ago, so he got infected with cowpox."
"He also said that cowpox looks very similar to smallpox, but the symptoms are milder, without high fever. It only causes a rash like smallpox, and it doesn't cause a high fever."
"The author asked the family why they were so sure their child had cowpox and not smallpox. The family replied that it was because they remembered themselves as children, just like their own child, who had contracted cowpox. Seeing that their family had no money to treat it, they never imagined that the virus was nothing serious. It just caused a rash, not even a fever, and that the rash would heal after it turned into blisters and scabs formed."
"After hearing what the host said, the author was still in disbelief because he was sure that what he saw was smallpox, but the host insisted that it was not. In order to find out what was going on, the author gave the family some money and said he would stay with them until the boy recovered."
"Because he planned to observe the boy's symptoms of cowpox throughout the whole process. As a result, he found that the symptoms of cowpox were very similar to those of smallpox, and even the progression of the disease was similar. However, the symptoms were much milder than those of smallpox and would not be fatal."
"When that man left here and returned, he told everyone around him about this incident. No one believed him, and they all thought he was lying. He had no choice but to write it down in his travelogue, which was later preserved by his descendants. I don't know how it ended up in the hands of the old Taoist priest I helped, and he gave it to me along with the nourishing elixir as a reward."
After hearing Baoer's story, Nian Gengyao and Qing Heng were both stunned.
Nian Gengyao looked at Bao'er and asked, "So you mean that cowpox and smallpox are the same virus, and this cowpox can be used to vaccinate humans, and it's less dangerous."
Baoer nodded repeatedly. "Although I don't know if it's true, there is some basis for this kind of thing. If it is true, then everyone will be vaccinated against cowpox and no longer have to worry about smallpox. After all, every time there is smallpox, many lives are lost."
After hearing Baoer say this, the two men instantly understood that what Baoer said was indeed feasible.
Nian Gengyao asked, "What do you want to do, Baoer?"
Baoer thought about it and said, "We can secretly ask someone to find out where there are cows with that kind of pox. Then, when we find it, I can talk to Yinzhen and the others and ask them to help find two imperial doctors in the palace. Then, we can ask them to find some death row prisoners to test it. If it is successful, we will report the evidence to the emperor."
After Bao'er finished speaking, Nian Gengyao nodded in agreement, and looked at Bao'er with admiration.
"Don't worry, I'll have my servants go to the countryside and cattle farms and keep an eye out."
Qingheng was also looking at Baoer with sparkling eyes filled with admiration, love and pride.
Qing Heng also said, "I have some people under my command. Although not many, they can still help a little."
Baoer and the other two looked at each other and smiled excitedly.
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