Which vaccines leave scars

A smallpox vaccination scar occurs because the vaccination causes an injury at the injection site. Other vaccinations typically involve injecting fluid with thin needles. However, smallpox vaccination requires a different method of injection.

It is this reaction that leads to the scarring. As the body fights the infection, a scab begins to form. The scab may ooze and feel itchy and tight. This is a normal reaction to scabbing. As the injury at the injection site heals, the scab falls off and leaves behind an area of skin that looks like a pockmark.

Typically, a person received the smallpox vaccination in the upper part of their left arm, though doctors sometimes administered these vaccines in other areas, such as the buttocks. While most people received smallpox vaccinations without any problems, complications sometimes occurred. However, no one has been infected with smallpox from the vaccine because the vaccine contains a different virus.

Unlike some other vaccines, the smallpox vaccine contains a live virus. This means that people who receive the vaccine need to take extra care of their injection sites to avoid spreading the virus. A person can try various methods of removing or reducing the appearance of a smallpox scar, including:. A widespread vaccine campaign in the middle of the 20th century eradicated smallpox. As a result, smallpox vaccination is no longer a common practice in the U.

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The vaccine gun needed repairs all the time and turned out to be too intricate for fieldwork. So after a few years, health workers switched to the bifurcated needles still used today. That new low-tech method was cheap and used a lot less vaccine, but Youngdahl suspects that patients briefly suffered a bit more.

The campaign worked. Smallpox was wiped out around the world and declared eradicated in Today, smallpox researchers and some people in the military are the only ones who routinely get the vaccine. Hildegund Ertl, director of the vaccine center at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, was immunized against smallpox when she was a young researcher and graduate student in Germany. I could barely move my arm; my lymph nodes were so swollen. Once the smallpox threat was stamped out, Ertl says countries did the cost-benefit analysis for the vaccine, and between and , the United States stopped offering the routine vaccine to children.

Millienials missed out, but earlier generations still have the battle scars of the war against smallpox. Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken Scott. Sign up for our weekly newsletter. During the height of smallpox concerns, having a visible smallpox vaccine scar was a beneficial sign because health officials could assume a person was vaccinated against the virus.

Despite scar formation, the vaccine is known for causing fewer adverse reactions when given on the arm, compared to the buttocks or other areas. In addition to known scarring from the smallpox vaccine, there is another vaccine that causes a similar scar. This vaccine is used to protect people against human tuberculosis. Both vaccine types can leave upper arm scars. Often, a person can tell the difference between the smallpox vaccine and BCG scars by taking into account the following considerations:.

The treatments for a smallpox scar are similar to those for scarring in general. If your smallpox scar developed into a keloid, you can apply silicone sheets like a bandage or gel to the keloid. Of the more than 37, civilian workers who received the smallpox vaccine in , an estimated 21 post-vaccination scars occurred, according to the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Of those experiencing scarring, the average time to noticing the scar was 64 days. While smallpox scars may still exist, a person must evaluate whether their scar requires treatment to reduce its appearance. Most scars are removed or revised for cosmetic appearances, not health concerns. The shingles vaccine is recommended for people ages 50 and older, as older adults are more likely to develop shingles.

Learn about the side effects of…. An epidemic is when an infectious disease spreads to many people within a community or area. Learn about the biggest outbreaks in United States…. There's a popular belief that rubbing vitamin E oil onto your acne scars can help them heal quickly, and reduce their visibility.