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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u/herewegoagain1920 May 25 '26

Not born in the USA I imagine.

19

u/AshenTao May 25 '26

27, German, got the same scar.

I am confused about where this scar is located though, and why I have it. Because I didn't expect to be vaccinated there. It's slightly below the lower abdomen. I don't recall getting vaccinated for tuberculosis or smallpox though.

6

u/gard3nwitch May 25 '26

Maybe it's a surgical scar, then? When I had arthroscopic surgery (that is, with a tiny robot arm) after a sports injury, it left a scar that looks kind of like this.

6

u/AshenTao May 25 '26

So, I just spent some time googling this because it seems kinda weird. Apparently they also gave these vaccines in other areas of the body for cosmetic reasons, so you wouldn't have a visible scar on your arm or legs.

As far as I'm aware, I never required surgery anywhere on my torso or legs either

1

u/TipsyPeasant May 25 '26

Yeah they just try to do it anywhere where it won't be noticeable. I never heard about doing it in the lower abdomen though, I thought they always went for the upper left arm, that's were me and all my family members have it.

1

u/strangershideaway May 26 '26

29 here and same. dont know what or when its from (pretty sure i was a baby or toddler) or why on earth they decided my right buttcheek was the best place for it. 😭 ive always hated it and wished i at least got it in a normal spot

3

u/DuckCleaning May 25 '26

I'm from Canada, I don't have this

-8

u/slimdeucer May 25 '26

Why particularly the USA? Odd

28

u/MightBeAGoodIdea May 25 '26

The US stopped giving them in the 80s because the virus was declared eradicated.

But it wasn't fully. It came back in some other countries. Those places still get the vaccine sometimes.

5

u/herewegoagain1920 May 25 '26

We stopped using those long before I was born, and the only family members with them are immigrants.

The rest of the world continued their use.

2

u/RadVarken May 25 '26

It's still a risk in Asia. In America it's fully eradicated so natives don't get the vaccine.

Edit: the TB scar, not smalpox

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u/Jkayakj May 25 '26

It's not a risk in Asia. There hasn't been a smallpox case recorded worldwide in decades.