Speculation: Is there a ‘cow pox?’

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Wiki Cow pox

One of the mysteries of the COVID-19 pandemic is why there are so many people who get infected but have little or no symptoms. That leads me to wonder if there is a ‘cow pox’ out there. Early prevention of smallpox was by ‘variolation’ in which puss from smallpox patients was used to inoculate  healthy people. One problem was that sometimes those people got smallpox.

But an English physician, Edward Jenner, noticed that milkmaids did not get smallpox, and deduced that they were protected by having had a similar, but much milder, disease called cow pox. He found that inoculation with scabs or puss from infected cows did indeed provide protection from smallpox, and if a patient came down with cow pox, he would get a rash, but it would not kill him. So, vaccination(which literally means “from the cow”) replaced variolation. In time, smallpox was eradicated by vaccination for cow pox.

So, what I am wondering is if there is another coronavirus, one of those that causes the common cold, that is similar enough on its surface, that a recent case of that cold virus is providing protection for those asymptomatic patients?

I have no way of investigating it, but if that were the case, this whole thing could be brought to a screeching halt by simply deliberately infecting people with that cold virus.

I would certainly line up to get a few days of sniffles to be protected from a deadly disease. I wonder if anyone with the means to check it out has thought of this?

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Published by Don Tabor

I am a former Chairman of the Tidewater Libertarian Party and was the 2007 LP candidate for the 14th district VA Senate. Previously, I was the Volunteer State Director for the FairTax. I am married 50 years with two grown children and 5 grandchildren.

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13 thoughts on “Speculation: Is there a ‘cow pox?’”

  1. Apparently, there may be. See the list of “good news”.

    I’ve earmarked this site since they are determined to run one of these weekly. They’re going to dig in the weeds, and they do say, “with a grain of salt “, so…

    See #4. Triage is important.

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      1. Now, Don. Don’t feel bad. It was still a good idea.

        And we know from our experiences with you here that there is no way in hell you would have seen the piece before Nancy posted it. Seriously, New York Magazine? I’m just glad it isn’t limited to subscribers.

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  2. The science of vaccine research is based on RNA, computers and other new tools available only in the last decade, or even less.

    The weakened virus model may be gone in favor of the newest research.

    Yet, sometimes the older, simpler approach has yet to be proven wrong.

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  3. RE: “So, what I am wondering is if there is another coronavirus, one of those that causes the common cold, that is similar enough on its surface, that a recent case of that cold virus is providing protection for those asymptomatic patients?”

    Excellent example of “thinking outside the pox.”

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