In The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin it is stated that he lost one of his sons to small pox in 1736. Franklin had three children, one illegitimate son named William, one daughter Sarah, and Francis Folger (Wikipedia).
At that point in history inoculations for small pox were possible but they did have their down sides. Inoculations meant that a person was exposed to a small amount of small pox through inhaling ground up scabs from an infected person. This did decrease the outbreaks of small pox by 90%, but it also caused 2% of the people who did get the inoculations to die (Brannnon). Franklin states that he did not get Francis inoculated. He also states that parents should get their children inoculated for small pox. (Franklin 79)
Even today there are arguments about vaccines and if they do more harm than good. It seem that although the risk was higher in the 1700’s it was understood that getting inoculated was better than waiting to see if you got small pox. Franklin thought he made a mistake by not having Francis inoculated and regretted that after Francis died from small pox at four years of age.
Brannon, MD, Heather. “The History of Smallpox.” About.com: Dermatology. September 25, 2004. September 22, 2009.
“Benjamin Franklin.” Wikipedia. September 22, 2009.
Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Dover, 1996
Kind of off topic, but I find this situation similar to today. For example, the flu shot. This shot contains things that are known to cause cancer and other harm to the body. Would you rather not get sick of the flu now or get sick from something else later. It's kind of a catch-22. Similar to Franklin's situation where he didn't want his son to be exposed to the smallpox and as a result the son died.
ReplyDeleteIt is better to be safe than sorry in Franklin's case, but how would you know if you would get sick? There are some people that believe they can handle themselves if they get sick, or think they are immune to everything. But I agree with the post that no one should take chances with something that can end up being fatal.
ReplyDeleteI see your point about not wanting to make yourself sick and dying from the vaccine, but when there is an outbreak of a disease that will most likely end up killing you, and there is a high probability that you will contract the disease, it is easy to see why a person would rather take his or her chances with the vaccine than risk getting the disease and dying. The vaccine gives the person a chance at survival; there as, if the person does nothing he or she will always be worried about getting the disease and dying.
ReplyDeleteI agree because back then vaccines were not available, and much more people died from diseases. There was also a higher risk, because people were not immune to them. I agree with the blog, it is a bit off topic, however he talked about the conditions in that period of time about diseases and consequences of not inoculating Francis caused him to die at a young age.
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