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Variolation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis and Treatment

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Thirty Great Inventions of China

Abstract

Variolation, also known as vaccination, refers to the technique used in ancient China to prevent smallpox. The method involved was to produce vaccine from the smallpox scabs or liquid collected from the people who suffered from smallpox, and then inoculated healthy children so that they were mildly infected and produced antibodies. In this way, the invasion as well as the infection of variola virus was prevented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

    Yahua Niu

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  1. Yahua Niu
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Correspondence to Yahua Niu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for the History of Natural Science of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Jueming Hua

  2. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Lisheng Feng

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Niu, Y. (2020). Variolation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis and Treatment. In: Hua, J., Feng, L. (eds) Thirty Great Inventions of China. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6525-0_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6525-0_30

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-6524-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-6525-0

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