Just discovered an interesting parallel in history between DJT and George Washington.
- Washington was fighting the British and smallpox simultaneously
- Previously had small pox himself
- Tried quarantine at first, which worked but only for a short period
- Rumors the British were engaging in biowarfare, deliberately sending sick people to infect the revolutionaries
- Washington also knew that his American-born soldiers were far more susceptible to the disease than the European enemy. That’s because smallpox was endemic in England.
- Armed only with a primitive understanding of contagion and immunity, Washington had to decide between several anti-smallpox schemes, each with its own significant risks.
- The best inoculation technique at Washington’s disposal during the Revolutionary War was a nasty and sometimes fatal method called “variolation.”
- Variolization still had a case fatality rate of 5 to 10 percent. And even if all went well, inoculated patients still needed a month to recover.
"Washington eventually made the bold decision to inoculate all American troops who had never been sickened with smallpox at a time when inoculation was a crude and often deadly process. His gamble paid off. The measure staved off smallpox long enough to win a years-long fight with the British. In the process, Washington pulled off the first massive, state-funded immunization campaign in American history."
From the article https://www.histo