Question

Smallpox is a virus with a fatality rate of about 30%, and those that survive the disease have terrible scarring and lingering problems. Edward Jenner is famous for a now notorious experiment in which he developed the first vaccine for smallpox. In the experiment Jenner first exposed a small boy to cowpox, which is relatively harmless. The boy got cowpox and recovered. Jenner then exposed the boy to smallpox by walking him through a hospital ward. The boy lived.

Which conclusion is NOT valid?
A) Cowpox virus can be used as a vaccine against smallpox.
B) Immunity to cowpox virus also grants immunity to smallpox.
C) Cowpox virus and smallpox virus are probably very similar.
D) Smallpox virus would be a good choice for a vaccine against cowpox.

Answer 1

Answer:

C) Smallpox and Cowpox are similar.

Explanation:

Scientists used Cowpox vaccinations to test how well a smallpox vaccination work, using the Cowpox vaccine as a benchmark to base smallpox off of.

Answer 2

Answer: Option D

Explanation:

The small pox virus would not be a good choice for a vaccine against cowpox. This is so because the intensity of the disease differs.

The small pox is more severe and its virus cannot be used in a attenuated form to generate immune response for small pox.

There are chances that doing so might kill the person with small pox as it has high fatality rate than cowpox. Even if its is cured it leaves marks and scars.

So, small pox virus cannot be used as a vaccine against cowpox.