Who was hit by a smallpox epidemic in the eighteenth century often could not retell it. “The aggressive disease reared its head every seven years and killed some twenty thousand people in the Netherlands at the most severe gusts,” says historian Willibrord Rutten.
Children especially became infected. “Don’t confuse deadly smallpox with chickenpox,” says Rutten. “This virus gave black ulcers and affected the organs.” Rutten received his doctorate from Wageningen University on the outbreak and treatment of smallpox epidemics, and now works at the social historical center for Limburg.
Until 1974, people were vaccinated against smallpox. But that was no longer necessary after a special, worldwide action to eradicate the disease.
Proof of vaccination. The text continues below the photo.
No waterproof system
Smallpox was a leading cause of death in children up to the eighteenth century: one in ten children died in some European countries. How should you stop such a dangerous virus? “Until there was a vaccine, people mainly tried to avoid patients, just like now,” says Rutten.
It was not a watertight system then, and it is not now, he says. ‘With both viruses you hardly have any symptoms at first. But you are contagious. ” Whoever survived the virus became immune. “But that first cost many lives.”
Leading the way
A new era began when a vaccine was discovered in 1798, Rutten says. “The health policy in The Hague instructed all provinces to make a good policy, but that happened only very rarely.” Gelderland was one of the leading provinces.
“The Achterhoek did very well: they vaccinated eighty percent.” But the Veluwe, where the “reformed church people” lived, also achieved “surprising scores.” “It was not the Orthodox predecessors, but the administrative elite who ruled the early nineteenth century. They wanted to elevate the people to prosperity and well-being. ”
Veluwe policeman
Every year, the Veluwse policeman went from house to house, asking if there were still unvaccinated children. Vaccination became mandatory for all children. “Without a smallpox note, children in Gelderland would no longer be able to enter the school.”
The virus did not go away with the vaccine. It proliferated for decades. “The elderly can still remember the shot,” says Rutten. “That smooth spot on your arm or leg was where the vaccine had caused such an ulcer.” Vaccination was necessary until the World Health Organization WHO launched a massive campaign in 1967 to eradicate the virus.
‘Smallpox free’
“It was an unprecedented operation. One by one, the WHO scoured the continents in search of patients. Patients were quarantined in every city, in every village. The people they had contacted were vaccinated. “Bangladesh is smallpox free,” you heard on the radio.
“Ethopia, Latin America, the last fires in the horn of Africa.” Until the very last patient was found in Somalia in 1977. He was isolated. We waited a while. And then in 1980 the world was declared smallpox free.
Exterminated
“For the first time in history, we managed to eradicate an infectious disease, a virus,” says Rutten. It is special to remember that with the coronavirus we are back with damming, and still far from eradication. “We reduce the fever, we keep alive by ventilation. But we cannot exterminate without a vaccine. “
When that injection comes, it will certainly be included in the national vaccination program, just like with smallpox at the time, it sounds. Until then, we can only do what we used to do with smallpox: “Keep your distance and make sure you don’t get infected.”
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