When it comes to history’s greatest killer diseases, AIDS/HIV is practically a drop in the bucket.  Sure, it kills millions of people and is a horrible way to die and hopefully humans will eradicate AIDS soon, but in the 20th Century alone, smallpox killed 500 million people.  Fortunately, through a thorough and global vaccination effort, smallpox in the wild is all but wiped out, with the last smallpox case occurring in 1975 and the disease being declared eradicated in 1980.  That’s about the time HIV appeared in humans, and now experts say that there might be a connection between the two as the smallpox vaccine offers protection against HIV in humans.

According to a new study in BMC Immunology, HIV/AIDS rates soared after widespread smallpox immunization stopped.  In people with HIV, those who have not had smallpox vaccinations have five times more HIV/AIDS replication in their bloodstream than those who have had smallpox vaccines administered.  THere’s something about the smallpox jab that helps protect against HIV, though experts have not yet recommended smallpox vaccines to fight off or prevent AIDS.

Maybe smallpox is such a dangerous disease that it even kills off HIV?  Maybe that, mixed with current drug cocktails that have proven effective, can help save lives!

Tags: HIV, smallpox, smallpox vaccines help protect against HIV/AIDS, AIDS, unusual health news, BMC Immunology, decline in smallpox vaccines lead to rise in HIV, smallpox vaccine fights HIV

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