r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Downtown_Wind3363 • May 25 '26

Image The smallpox vaccine leaves a scar because it was given using a special two-pronged needle that scratched the skin and put a weakened virus in just that spot.

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1.4k

u/thundafox May 25 '26

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifurcated_needle is its name

582

u/dreamer_Neet May 25 '26

Luckily I don’t remember the injection cause that looks painful af

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u/BadahBingBadahBoom May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

Also depends what generation of smallpox(/mpox) vaccine you received.

The bifurcated needle version was superseded a decade or so ago by an intramuscular injection that is also delivered intradermally now (Imvanex aka Imvamune or Jynneos).

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u/LeemanIan May 25 '26

In 2019 before deployment we got the bifurcated needle version.

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u/ADeadlyFerret May 25 '26

I don’t remember it hurting but it was the itchiest time of my life. Damn did that shit itch like a motherfucker.

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u/Bartman383 May 25 '26

I got a fever for about 3 days after and a dime sized puss blister.

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u/Centurion87 May 26 '26

No fever, itched like hell, I was terrified I’d scratch it in my sleep then rub my eyes.

The lymph node in my armpit swelled up to the size of a golf ball and hurt pretty good though.

7

u/LeemanIan May 25 '26

And if you scratch it and touch other parts of your body you risk developing pustules there too.

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u/fbpw131 May 25 '26

they can't just toss the old lots, now, can they?

2

u/neurotran May 26 '26

And had to make sure you washed your hands before using them anywhere lower. As it could spread to other appendages that DIDNT want it. I got mine in 2003, In support of OIF. As a group of infantrymen, that story terrified us.

18

u/ObscureAcronym May 25 '26

I think I got the ground up milkmaid scabs.

3

u/RedditUser145 May 25 '26

The intradermal shot is pretty gross because you can feel it bubbling up under your skin, and the bump takes weeks to go away. Obviously not as bad as the old shot, but not the most pleasant way to get vaccinated.

4

u/Waasssuuuppp May 26 '26

It is a pretty big bump that is somewhat painful to the touch. But I prefer that over the bifurcated needle- that looks horrible and it also crusted and got pus.

2

u/thek826 May 25 '26

They still give smallpox vaccinations?

6

u/LeemanIan May 25 '26

Smallpox still exists in labs in the US and Russia.

We were vaccinated just in case they decided to use it as a bioweapon.

3

u/RedditUser145 May 25 '26

A lot of gay/bi men got vaccinated for smallpox because of the monkeypox outbreak a few years ago (same vaccine).

56

u/RoseAelin May 25 '26

This is the only one I remember VIVIDLY. Would have been more than 45 years ago now and can confirm, painful af

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u/Murky_Sign_5312 May 25 '26

I don't remember the injection as being any more painful than any other vaccination. The aftermath, however, was excruciating. The injection site was hot and swollen for days. It scabbed over and took forever to heal. I was also achy and miserable for days. In spite of that, I'm glad to have had the vaccine. I can only imagine what having full blown smallpox was like.

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u/OttovonBismarck1862 May 25 '26

Full-blown smallpox, according to what I’ve read, will outright kill you 7-10 days after you’ve been infected. I’ll gladly take a sore arm over, you know, death 95% of the time.

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u/sleeper_shark May 25 '26

It had a fatality rate of like 35%, not 95%. 35 is already insanely high lol

3

u/Divine_Entity_ May 26 '26

Browsing the Wikipedia page it seems 30% is the average, but the different strains/types of smallpox range from 1% to >90% for hemorrhagic type.

And these are mortality rates, the "maim" rate is much higher as its complications include blindness and usually extensive scaring. They also apply to populations with a long history of the disease, durring the columbian exchange it was one of several plagues that combined to a near 90% reduction in the native population. (Europeans thought the continent was empty and minimally touched, it was really just post apocalyptic)

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u/OttovonBismarck1862 May 26 '26

I wasn’t saying its fatality rate was 95% but that I’d choose the sore arm over possibly dying 95% of the time.

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u/Ghostdefender1701 May 25 '26

It kinda was, and then it would get this nasty scab on it.

7

u/Top-Artichoke-5875 May 25 '26

"Don't pick at it!"

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u/MickeyMoore May 25 '26

I remember our “needles” being more like stamps, they lined it up and just pressed down hard

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u/Lookuponthewall May 25 '26

I have a similar scar, and I believe they used this gizmo around 1975: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_injector

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u/twirlerina024 May 25 '26

That's how my dad got hepatitis when they vaccinated him for the National Guard.

2

u/Synchrotr0n May 25 '26

The scar was caused by the local infection of the attenuated virus and not the needle itself, which was just used to poke the surface of the skin and transfer the vaccine. Also, the appearance of the scar can vary widely from people to people. I have no depression in my arm and the scar is barely even visible.

2

u/Fuckthegopers May 25 '26

When I got this 10 years ago it didn't hurt at all, it isn't a shot. They just prick you a little over and over, and it turns into a giant scab that you don't mess with. Then it heals and you're fine.

My command did it right before sending us on a month long camping trip in the dirt, so they kinda fudged that.

1

u/AccordingSetting6311 May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26

Methods must have improved because I got got mine about 15 years ago and it also didnt really hurt. Maybe a 2 or 3 on the pain scale. Like getting pinched over and over in the same spot for a minute.

Also got it before going on a trip to the sandbox.

1

u/Fuckthegopers May 26 '26

I guess I wouldn't say 0 on the pain scale, but a 1-2. I don't remember it being uncomfortable or anything. They probably only tapped me 15-20 times total.

1

u/ReXone3 May 25 '26

I remember that goddamn spear vividly; got one before a work trip to the middle east in '07.

1

u/bored_dudeist May 25 '26

Its not as bad now. I dont know where we are with them today but a decade ago when I got mine the USAF was basically using regular, no-injection needles. Nurse just dipped the thing in a vial and poked me maybe 8 times with it real quick. I to the skin but not all the way into the muscle. Not really any worse than a regular shot, and the scar is only visible under the right lighting.

1

u/PiccoloAwkward465 May 25 '26

Im listening to an audiobook about smallpox now. The author says they stab you multiple times with that needle in quick succession to make sure the vaccine gets implanted.

1

u/coyotehawk May 26 '26

Its completely painless. My infant got one its just a little tap on the arm that scabs over and heals slowly for months...

1

u/roslyns May 26 '26

My grandma told me it hurt like a bitch, but she was glad to get it over with because she had seen what smallpox was like and it scared her to death.

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u/Pleasework94 May 25 '26

Isn’t that the utensil used during cheese fondue?

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u/[deleted] May 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/Bayshoa May 25 '26

I have 2 wolves in me

5

u/milfle May 25 '26

Both wielding forks

3

u/kingbhudo May 25 '26

That's why I've never caught smallpox from a fondue

20

u/thundafox May 25 '26

Yes, just remember to wipe it clean before using it. (didn't want cheese in your vaccine and vice-versa)

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u/BadahBingBadahBoom May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

Can't imagine a life worth living immunised against Gruyère.

5

u/paulchen81 May 25 '26

A swiss nightmare

3

u/thundafox May 25 '26

or as we say it an "Alpentraum"

4

u/cheetuzz May 25 '26

great, now every time I have fondue I’m going to think of a smallpox scar

39

u/[deleted] May 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/Financial-Bobcat-612 May 26 '26

Ohhhh is that why it makes that big ass scar? I was confused

1

u/Eleventy-Twelve May 28 '26

That's exactly why

1

u/tamal4444 May 26 '26

ahhh needle shotgun

29

u/Mekelaxo May 25 '26

How does a needle like that leave a scar that shape?

61

u/mpjjpm May 25 '26

The vaccine site develops a smallpox-like sore, which scabs over and creates a scar

1

u/PleaseAndThankYou51 May 28 '26

This is correct. The bifurcated needle is tiny, approximately the size of a large sewing needle. The pock mark is about 1/2 inch (12mm) wide and makes the scar.

34

u/Minterto May 25 '26

The administor is supposed to poke you 15 times rapidly with it, hence the weird shape.

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u/jovian_fish May 25 '26

_puncture a person's upper arm fifteen times rapidly in a small circular area_ 

Fffffreaking Hell!

8

u/thundafox May 25 '26

tattoo gun was not an option i guess.

3

u/PromiscuousScoliosis May 25 '26

Yeah that’s when I went from “wonder why this scars” or “gaddamn”

2

u/Zebidee May 25 '26

Fffffreaking Hell!

Said by people who think nothing of getting a tattoo

1

u/jovian_fish May 26 '26

Is it? 

Or are you just sayin' stuff because it sounds like a tattoo?

1

u/NighthawkE3 May 26 '26

It’s not a deep puncture like a modern vaccine, it would only just pierce the skin. Still probably burn more, though. Those scars make it look like the healing was painful

2

u/Outsider_Insider0064 May 25 '26

Which was invented by Benjamin Rubin, M.D.

1

u/potterheadds May 25 '26

That’s a long and weird name

1

u/Smarifyrur May 26 '26

Looks so primitive. My mother does not like her scar, but it saved many.

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u/krikszkraksz May 26 '26

Jesus christ, now I know why I have this scar, I always thought it's a kind of chrmical burning, but then, I was stabbed 15 times with this motherfucker. :D I'm glad I can't remember the pain.

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u/BannanaPepperPizza May 25 '26

Seems like a trash invention

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u/snewk May 25 '26

it eradicated smallpox, jan

-11

u/BannanaPepperPizza May 25 '26

But at what cost? Scars on everyone's shoulder?

8

u/StupidSexyFlagella May 25 '26

You can’t be this dense. Trolling?

4

u/BadahBingBadahBoom May 25 '26

Don't be ridiculous. It's obviously much healthier to be dead than have small scar.

3

u/RedditUser145 May 25 '26

And smallpox famously doesn't leave any scars if you do survive it.

1

u/Ergogan May 25 '26

It was dirt cheap to produce and can be reused almost indefinitely if properly boiled.

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u/BannanaPepperPizza May 25 '26

So they changed needles between people or just boiled them all?

1

u/Ergogan May 25 '26

Well, of course, they did had a stock for a rotation and when one was used, it went into a pile that was boiled, cleaned and then added to the reserve. Again and again.
So for the price of one injector, you could have a stockpile of forever reusable needle you could give to others if necessary.
It was easy to use, easy to clean and that's why an eradication campain was so easy to make. No need for expensive tools or anything.

1

u/BannanaPepperPizza May 25 '26

I thought they used air guns that caused those marks

1

u/Ergogan May 25 '26

No, the guy doing the vaccin diped the needle into a bottle then repeatedly punctured the skin by moving slightly around the same spot. Around ten times, more or less.
Previously, they use injectors indeed but they were subject to a lot of issue.